Chapter 81 – Challenge
Xiong Ye was very much on guard against Zhu Zhan, so he had specifically asked the children of the tribe to help him keep an eye on Zhu Zhan before going out that day.
As a result, he received this news as soon as he got back and almost burst into flames from sheer rage.
This Zhu Zhan was really bad; he even took advantage of the time when he wasn’t here to court Zhou Ji!
“Big brother Xiong Ye, other than talking to Zhou Ji, this person has also been watching Zhou Ji the whole time!” Someone else added.
Xiong Ye: “I see. Help me continue to keep an eye on him in the future!” After saying this, he gave them one of the birds he had caught that day. “Take it and share it between all of you!”
Xiong He had never minded having more food stored away in the tribe, so he had recently reverted back to distributing food according to his usual style.
The tribe gave the children a decent amount of food, but the children would always be happy to receive extra food.
“Thank you, big brother Xiong Ye!” These children took the bird with them and ran off.
Xiong Ye took the remaining birds with him and arrived at Zhou Ji’s side.
Each of these birds were about the same size as a modern chicken. They were very beautiful, with bright, colorful feathers. Zhou Ji glanced at them, then looked back at Xiong Ye.
A sour smell floated up from Xiong Ye’s body as he stared blankly at Zhou Ji, seemingly a little aggrieved…
He hadn’t expected that Xiong Ye would ask the children of the tribe to keep watch over Zhu Zhan… Zhou Ji found it quite hilarious as he pointed to a bird and asked, “What kind of bird is this?”
“I don’t know what they’re called. I caught them with a net.” Xiong Ye instantly forgot about his jealousy, “Fishing nets are really useful. Not only can they be used to catch fish, they can also be used to catch other prey. In the past, I would never have been able to catch this kind of bird.”
“That’s amazing.” Zhou Ji praised him.
Xiong Ye was a little proud with such praise. “I’ve eaten this bird once before. It tastes very good, and you’ll definitely like it!” Not every type of bird was delicious. There were birds in the area that fed on fish, resulting in a particularly fishy taste, to the point where even he as a non-picky eater didn’t like eating them.
“Indeed.” Zhou Ji smiled.
Zhou Ji was so attractive when he smiled! Xiong Ye wanted to give him a kiss, but he also simultaneously recalled the matter with Zhu Zhan, “Right, did Zhu Zhan come find you today? What did you talk about?”
“He asked me if there was any way to get him back to the Beastman Continent.” Zhou Ji didn’t hide it.
Xiong Ye let out a sigh of relief but didn’t let down his guard.
Zhu Zhan was very strong. Not only that, but his appearance was also very outstanding, and he was very tall. Even though he wasn’t a member of their tribe, many women from the tribe had become attracted to him over the past few days.
Even if it was likely that he would leave and wouldn’t help them raise a child, it would still be pretty good to have a child that grew up to be like him––What woman wouldn’t want a strong child?
While the women were attracted to Zhu Zhan, it was different for the men… When faced with Zhu Zhan, all the men felt a sense of inferiority.
And it wasn’t just those who had limited strength and were quite weak, even Xiong Ye felt that he couldn’t compare to Zhu Zhan.
If Zhu Zhan was really interested in Zhou Ji… And it seemed very likely! Zhou Ji was much better than any of the women of the tribe!
“Zhou Ji, he might just be randomly coming up with a reason to talk to you… Don’t pay him any attention.” Xiong Ye instructed.
“Alright.” Zhou Ji agreed.
Zhou Ji was so obedient! Xiong Ye added, “If he comes to bother you again… I’ll go fight him!”
Zhou Ji burst out laughing..
He thought about it, then said, “We’ll make a mud bird.”
“Mud birds?” Xiong Ye was a little muddled––What kind of thing was that?
“Yes.” Zhou Ji nodded, then directed him to first rub salt over the bird that Xiong Ye had already cleaned up.
A layer of salt was rubbed over the bird along with a pinch of chili powder. They stuffed earth eggs into its stomach, then wrapped the bird in layers of a fragrant kind of broad leaf before coating whole thing in mud so that it could be tossed into the fire and roasted.
While Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji were messing about with the mud bird, Zhu Zhan was currently observing their actions.
Zhu Zhan’s subordinates found the scene rather strange when they saw it, “Big brother, isn’t that Zhou Ji a little too fond of mud? Not only did he use mud to make pottery and houses, he’s now actually using it to make food.”
“So, can food that’s cooked like that… be delicious?” Someone else asked.
Zhu Zhan pondered the question deeply, “I feel that… It should be?”
That Zhou Ji was very impressive. It seemed that everything he made was very tasty. Especially those chili peppers… After eating hot pot from that other day, it had constantly been on his mind.
It was a type of miraculous thing that could restore energy and allow people to recover from illness after eating it!
It was also especially tasty!
“The other people from the tribe don’t have chili peppers either… I’ll go and ask for some from Zhou Ji.” Zhu Zhan saw that Xiong Ye had gone off to roast the bird and stood up to walk towards Zhou Ji.
He wanted to roast meat the same way as Zhou Ji did, or make hot pot to eat.
“Zhou Ji.” Zhu Zhan glanced at Zhou Ji and began, “I heard the people of the tribe say that you were the one to discover chili peppers, and you’re the only one who has them… Can you give me some chili peppers?”
“I don’t have many chili peppers on hand and can’t give you any.” Zhou Ji said. Previously, he had told the priest that he didn’t have any left when the priest wanted some. How could he give them to an outsider now?
“I can trade for it! What do you think of my clothing?” Zhu Zhan thought for a moment, then took off his clothes right then and there.
When they had first arrived, they had seen Zhou Ji dressed in clothing and believed that the people of the tribe knew how to make clothing. They only learned later that that wasn’t the case.
The people of this tribe couldn’t make clothing. Only Zhou Ji could, and the things he used to weave clothing was different from what they used.
So… Zhu Zhan felt that his clothing was still very valuable.
“Not trading.” Zhou Ji moved his gaze away––Zhu Zhan hadn’t worn anything else underneath, and the scene hurt his eyes a little. Also… He wasn’t interested in used clothing that others had worn before.
Zhu Zhan wanted to try and change his mind again when Zhou Ji suddenly said, “Later, when Xiong Ye tries to fight with you, say that you are injured and can’t fight. Have your men fight him instead.”
Zhu Zhan was completely confused, but at this time, Xiong Ye returned.
As soon as Xiong Ye came back, he saw Zhu Zhan standing naked in front of Zhou Ji. Zhou Ji didn’t even want to see him and had already turned his head away.
He had already had been nursing a belly full of anger before, so there was no way for him to hold back this time, “Hey! Zhu Zhan! I want to challenge you!”
Zhu Zhan: “……”
“Let’s fight!” Xiong Ye ran in front of Zhu Zhan and blocked Zhou Ji’s view of him.
He had wanted to fight Zhu Zhan since long ago! Zhu Zhan was very strong, and he wanted to see exactly how powerful Zhu Zhan was.
However, he hadn’t brought it up because Zhu Zhan’s injuries hadn’t healed yet, and he didn’t think it was good to do so. Now…
Zhu Zhan had said his injury was better.
He had even changed the way he tried to catch Zhou Ji’s attention!
Xiong Ye felt that he really couldn’t take it anymore!
“I won’t fight you.” Zhu Zhan retrieved his clothing and covered himself up. Even if he was injured, he was still a medium level Beast Warrior. Wouldn’t he be bullying others if he fought a low level Beast Warrior like Xiong Ye? And Zhou Ji had spoken those words so suddenly…
Zhou Ji was also very clear on the fact that Xiong Ye wouldn’t be able to beat Zhu Zhan, but he wasn’t against Xiong Ye finding other people to fight against.
Xiong Ye fighting others under his supervision would help Xiong Ye improve his fighting power, which was very good.
Zhou Ji stuck his head out from behind Xiong Ye, glanced at Zhu Zhan, then pointed to one of Zhu Zhan’s subordinates.
Zhu Zhan: “……”
“Why won’t you fight? You don’t dare fight me?” Xiong Ye noticed that Zhu Zhan was looking behind him and grew even angrier.
Zhu Zhan wanted to say that Xiong Ye definitely wouldn’t be able to beat him, but Xiong Ye would be unhappy if he said that, and Zhou Ji would probably be displeased by that as well.
He still needed something from Zhou Ji… Zhu Zhan had no choice but to say, “I’m injured and can’t fight against you… I’ll have my subordinates fight you instead.”
Xiong Ye wanted to fight Zhu Zhan, but he couldn’t bully an injured person. He thought about it and finally agreed, “Alright!”
Zhu Zhan called up the subordinate that Zhou Ji had pointed to.
This person was a low level Beast Warrior, and his strength was about the same as Xiong Ye’s, which was why Zhou Ji had specifically pointed him out.
Now, he stood in front of Xiong Ye and said, “I’ve been a low level Beast Warrior for seven years now and have the potential to become a medium level Beast Warrior. People might suspect me of bullying you if we fight…”
This person’s intent was sincere when he spoke these words. Xiong Ye had only just reached adulthood, so he was ten years older than Xiong Ye. Although they were both low level Beast Warriors, he would be stronger than Xiong Ye no matter what.
However, Xiong Ye didn’t know about any of these things. He didn’t even know what a low level Beast Warrior was, “Are you looking down on me? Let’s fight!”
That man froze for a moment, then saw that Xiong Ye had already shifted into his animal form.
He also hurriedly shifted into his animal form and started to fight Xiong Ye.
Xiong Ye could be considered powerful in the tribe. Only Xiong He and Xiong Qi could match up to him, and it was because of this that he very rarely sparred with others in the tribe.
Even so, he was still rich in combat experience!
At this point, he made full use of the advantages of his animal form and did everything he could.
But the other side wasn’t bad either!
A giant pig’s body was larger than that of a lion or tiger. Although it wasn’t quite comparable to Xiong Ye, he also had an incomparably powerful bite that Xiong Ye couldn’t counter. Xiong Ye had to be very careful to not get bitten by this person.
Both sides tussled back and forth as they fought very fiercely.
Zhou Ji sat to the side and watched very carefully.
He watched the way Xiong Ye fought, and also prevented Xiong Ye from sustaining any serious injuries.
Xiong Ye definitely wouldn’t be bothered by minor injuries.
The person from the Giant Pig Tribe who fought against Xiong Ye had held back at the start. They were in the Big Bear Tribe’s territory, and Xiong Ye was the future tribal chief of the Big Bear Tribe. There was no way he would use killing moves against Xiong Ye.
Yet, Xiong Ye fought better the longer the fight went on… Very soon, he was no longer able to hold back any part of his strength. And even later… He had to try his best in order to end the fight with Xiong Ye at a tie.
At the very end, both of them collapsed to the ground in exhaustion.
Xiong Ye lay there on the ground unable to move and felt rather unhappy.
He had felt that he was already very strong. Instead, against his expectations, he couldn’t even beat Zhu Zhan’s subordinates!
Then Zhu Zhan… He probably couldn’t beat him, right?
At this time, perhaps others might begin to feel sorry for themselves and abandon themselves to despair. But Xiong Ye wasn’t that type of person. A powerful fighting spirit now ignited in Xiong Ye’s heart, with Zhu Zhan as the target.
He would definitely be able to win against Zhu Zhan one day!
With that in mind, Xiong Ye pulled himself up from the ground and then overpowered the man from the Giant Pig Tribe who was too tired to get up.
The unlucky person from the Giant Pig Tribe who had just been pressed down: “……”
Zhou Ji: Were they indulging in skin to skin contact? Also, he had a craving for pork now.
Pork had been very cheap before the apocalypse. Some people even disdained eating pork, preferring the more expensive lamb, beef, and so on, but in fact, when he thought about it carefully, pork was really very tasty.
Back then, if pork couldn’t be farmed and was therefore more expensive, perhaps everyone would have talked about how delicious pork was rather than saying that pork was no good…
His gaze returned to the fight.
Finally, it was Xiong Ye who stood up, which could be understood as Xiong Ye winning this round.
Xiong Ye’s face was full of excitement as he very happily dragged his tired body over to Zhou Ji.
Zhou Ji immediately gave him a hug, “Xiong Ye, you’re really impressive!”
Xiong Ye turned back into his animal form, “I’ll be even more powerful in the future.”
“I believe in you.” Zhou Ji covered Xiong Ye’s form with a piece of animal hide, “You’ll definitely be able to win beautifully against him next time!” Fighting was necessary in order to become stronger. He might as well have the people of the Giant Pig Tribe serve as a honing knife for Xiong Ye.
Zhou Ji was pondering how to create opportunities for Xiong Ye and the Giant Pig Tribe to fight again. They could consider other methods after Xiong Ye had won against Zhu Zhan.
“Of course!” Xiong Ye said.
“Let’s go and eat the mud bird.” Zhou Ji said.
The originally weak and powerless Xiong Ye immediately stood up, “Alright!”
Beggar’s chicken… no, the mud bird was really very tasty! Zhou Ji hammered on the mud that had been caked on the outside, shattering it and allowing a scent to drift out that caught practically everyone’s attention.
The people from the Giant Pig Tribe were almost drooling.
“Big brother, it’s bad enough that you weren’t able to obtain any chili peppers, you actually even made me suffer a beating…” The person who had fought against Xiong Ye was full of grievances.
Zhu Zhan said, “Don’t worry. I’ll definitely obtain chili peppers! As for Xiong Ye… We’ll find ways to fight him again and win!”