Ch82 – Becoming Stronger
The taste of the bird that Xiong Ye had caught was really good. After rubbing it with spices and baking it in large leaves, the meat was extremely tasty. Not only that, it also carried traces of the leaves’ fragrance, making it difficult for anyone to stop eating once they started.
Xiong Ye had most likely caught the entire family of birds. He brought back a total of five birds, and still had four left after giving one to the children. The four birds were divided equally between him and Zhou Ji, so that each person had two.
Even if the two birds were stuffed with earth eggs, it still wasn’t enough for Xiong Ye to be full, but it was enough for now. After the two of them finished eating, Zhou Ji suggested, “Let’s go back to the cave. I’ll help you apply some medicine.”
Xiong Ye had been injured in the earlier fight, and there was a bite mark on his shoulder. Looking at it made Zhou Ji’s heart clench.
“Alright.” Xiong Ye nodded.
Back in their cave, Zhou Ji helped Xiong Ye deal with his wounds and then fed him some herbs before telling him to go to sleep.
After determining that Xiong Ye was asleep, he sent more energy into Xiong Ye’s body.
Therefore, the next day, Xiong Ye’s energy level was back at one hundred percent. He even went so far as to say to Zhou Ji, “Zhou Ji, I learned a lot of things from fighting with that person yesterday, and I even feel like I became a little stronger.” After a full night’s rest, not only had the energy in his body recovered, it had even increased!
“In that case, if you fight a few more times, won’t you become even stronger?” Zhou Ji asked.
Xiong Ye felt that Zhou Ji’s words made sense!
He hoped to become stronger than Zhu Zhan. Since that was the case, shouldn’t he fight a few more times against Zhu Zhan and his subordinates?
Zhou Ji didn’t say much else. He fried up a plate of smoked meat with chili peppers, then served it to Xiong Ye along with some vegetable soup and roasted earth eggs.
Xiong Ye’s mood lifted even more after he was satiated.
The person who had been beaten up by Xiong Ye yesterday and still had to go hunting with him today didn’t really want to speak to him anymore.
He had fought Xiong Ye yesterday, and the fight had lasted almost an hour. He had been so tired that he just wanted to lay down on the ground, and today he was sore all over. Yet over there, Xiong Ye looked like he was completely fine… It was really depressing.
Even Zhu Zhan couldn’t help but curiously sneak looks at Xiong Ye.
Xiong Ye was too resilient! He had been born in such a small tribe, yet he was able to become a low level Beast Warrior even at such a young age. If he had been born in a large tribe and trained well from a young age, his future would be limitless.
“What are you staring at me for?” Xiong Ye frowned as he looked at Zhu Zhan.
“I didn’t think that you would recover so soon… You’re very resilient.” Zhu Zhan said.
“That’s not it! Zhou Ji specifically helped me put herbs on my wounds and even brewed medicine for me!” Xiong Ye said.
Zhu Zhan raised his eyebrows and grew even more curious about Zhou Ji––could it be that this Beast God’s messenger also knew how to help others increase their strength?
“Zhu Zhan, I’m telling you: Zhou Ji is my mate. You’re not allowed to try anything with him.” Xiong Ye stated.
Zhu Zhan had long wanted to clarify the matter of him having no interest in Zhou Ji in that way, but nobody had ever consulted him, giving him no opportunity to clarify the situation even if he wanted to. Now that Xiong Ye finally brought up this matter, he quickly spoke up for himself, “I’m really not interested in Zhou Ji! I like women.”
“Really?” Xiong Ye asked.
“Really.” Zhu Zhan said.
“In that case, why are you paying so much attention to Zhou Ji?”
“Zhou Ji is so impressive. He’s also the Beast God’s messenger, how could I not pay attention to him?” Zhu Zhan’s laugh was a little bitter.
“Alright…” Zhu Zhan agreed. He also thought to himself that Xiong Ye was actually quite easy to get along with. He didn’t want to have to fight over this strange matter either.
Yet as a result, even though he didn’t want to fight, Xiong Ye came back to seek him out for a fight after the meat was divided amongst the tribe that night.
Zhu Zhan: “……”
“I learned a lot from yesterday’s fight. Let’s fight again!” Xiong Ye looked eagerly at Zhu Zhan’s subordinates.
Zhu Zhan and his subordinates: “……” But they didn’t want to fight!
Zhu Zhan was about to refuse when Zhou Ji spoke up, “I’ll give you three chili pepper fruits every time you guys fight against Xiong Ye.”
Chili pepper? Zhu Zhan wanted to agree, but he hadn’t even had time to when one of his subordinates had already accepted Zhou Ji’s conditions.
It wasn’t only Zhu Zhan who had been thinking about the taste of chili peppers!
This fight was once again between Xiong Ye and one of Zhu Zhan’s subordinates. The two of them weren’t fighting desperately and ended up fighting for a long time because of this. It dragged on for over two hours before they both ran out of energy to continue.
After that, it became a fight to see whose endurance was better and who was more resilient!
Zhu Zhan’s men had become low level Beast Warriors by relying on their own talent and the energy rich foods they had eaten. They didn’t understand how to cultivate, but Xiong Ye was different! He knew how to cultivate!
When the fight reached its end, his opponent’s energy was completely used up while he was still able to cultivate and recover a little…
In fact, the person he was fighting today was a little stronger than Xiong Ye. He had overwhelmed Xiong Ye a few times, but Xiong Ye had always been able to get back up. On the other hand, after this person had gotten tired and been overpowered, he was no longer able to get back up again…
“I won again!” Xiong Ye was delighted as he looked at Zhou Ji.
His heart surged with indescribable joy. It wasn’t only because he won; it was also because he had discovered that his cultivation speed would speed up after the energy in his body had been completely used up.
“Really great.” Zhou Ji gave Zhu Zhan three chili peppers and took Xiong Ye away with him.
Zhu Zhan received the chili peppers and looked at his men, “This thing… What should we make with it?”
His subordinates didn’t even hesitate before answering, “Hot pot!”
Making hot pot was indeed pretty good.
Zhu Zhan led his subordinates in eating a big feast using the chili peppers they had traded for with their strength. They sweated all over, and then felt that… all the pain in their body seemed to have disappeared.
“I feel that this chili pepper is much more useful than the medicinal herbs that the priest of our tribe uses.” The person who had just fought with Xiong Ye had even recovered a little from his previous exhaustion.
He had originally been so tired that he didn’t even have any appetite, but after smelling the chili peppers in the hot pot, his appetite had immediately returned!
When he thought of that, he suggested, “Should you guys pick someone else to go up and fight Xiong Ye tomorrow? This time, we can ask for four chili peppers in exchange!” Three chili peppers didn’t seem to be enough…
“You’re thinking too much, right? Xiong Ye has already fought for two consecutive days, will he even be able to fight tomorrow?” One of Zhu Zhan’s men was skeptical.
Yet it turned out… Xiong Ye really had enough energy to continue fighting the next day!
Xiong Ye was back to normal by the next day, and the wounds on his body were almost all healed.
Also, even without them going to look for Xiong Ye, Xiong Ye had already taken the initiative to come and seek them out for a fight.
He was a bit stronger than he had been when they fought last time.
Zhu Zhan: “……” Xiong Ye’s progress was too swift! He felt that if this went on, he would soon have to become Xiong Ye’s opponent.
This rate of progress…
Zhu Zhan became even more curious about Zhou Ji––this breakneck rate of improvement was most likely related to Zhou Ji!
And since he was curious about Zhou Ji, he would need to stay in the Big Bear Tribe and interact with Zhou Ji and Xiong Ye more often…
Not to mention that he still wanted to know how to make a boat… It seemed that he couldn’t leave yet?
Zhu Zhan had a feeling like he had stepped into a pit ever since he arrived here.
While Zhu Zhan was currently feeling as though he had stepped into a pit, in another pit, the tribe had started to fire another round of pottery!
This time, the priest had switched to a different pit to fire pottery.
After digging out a big hole, he had dug out some smaller pits under the large one, placing the various clay creations into those smaller pits while lighting the firewood in the big pit.
This time when they fired the pottery, they had prepared many more molded things than before. Most of these clay things were in the shape of pots and bowls.
Zhou Ji wanted a pot, and things like pots and bowls that were large and open were definitely the easiest to make at this stage.
The fire was lit, and the temperature around the pit instantly shot up by several degrees. Zhou Ji lay there in the shadow of a tree not far away, hoping that they would be able to create an unbroken pot this time.
At this time, Mao Huo had finally brought the slaves to the Big Bear Tribe’s territory.
The slaves were in poor health and walked very slowly. He didn’t want them to die, so this journey had taken a long time.
Fortunately, he had finally finished delivering these people.
Mao Huo dropped off these hundred odd people, dusted off his butt, and left.
As for these hundred or so people, they were all muddled and confused.
Many of them were injured, their wounds festering and rotting due to being exposed to the wind and rain.
Many of them had already been starving when they left the Giant Tiger Tribe. Fearing that they would starve to death, the people of the Giant Tiger Tribe had given them food, but it wasn’t much, and they had already finished it all.
“What does the Big Bear Tribe look like?”
“Would they be willing to let us stay?”
“If there’s nowhere for us to stay, we might have to just die…”
……
These people pushed forward step by step.
Within this group of people, a man and a woman who were in relatively good shape walked at the front of the crowd.
The woman was with the man. She asked, “Hou Shi, do you think our child… Is he doing well in that tribe now?”
The man called Hou Shi smiled, “He’s definitely doing well.”
“I hope he’s fine, we only have one child now…” The woman continued.
Hou Shi’s eyes stung a bit, and a hint of tears welled up.
Hou Shi was from the Green Hill Tribe and had come with Mao Huo to the Big Bear Tribe before.
He knew the way, which was why Mao Huo had brought him along even though his body was still alright. He had then told his partner to feign illness so that she could also join the group.
They had left the Giant Tiger Tribe and were now free!
But the Big Bear Tribe…
Hou Shi felt great sorrow in his heart right now.
Mao Huo had sent his son to the Big Bear Tribe to investigate due to the small size of his animal form, and he had never returned. According to those who had escaped, his son was now dead.
He and his woman had grown up together, and had then had had four children together. Because they had been very young when they had their first child and hadn’t known how to raise children, their first child had grown up to be very small and weak, and his animal form was a tiny, tiny lemur. Even so, they loved him very dearly.
When the Giant Tiger Tribe attacked the Green Hill Tribe, their three youngest children had all been killed because they couldn’t do much work. Only their eldest child had been spared, but now… That child might have already lost his life as well.
He had been worried that his woman might not be able to take the stress, and so he had lied to her and assured her that their child was doing well in the Big Bear Tribe. Now, however…
He needed to go to the Big Bear Tribe and look into the situation. If that child had really died, then he would take his woman with him and become wandering beastmen together.
If their children were all gone, they wouldn’t want to live on, either.
While Hou Shi was thinking, over in the Big Bear Tribe, the priest was currently lamenting while watching the fire burn in the fire pit. “Right now in the tribe, we need at least another one hundred people to be responsible for planting land and gathering, who can become more skilled in those tasks. On the pottery side, another fifty or so people are needed, and we also need people to learn how to make houses, dig caves, and such… The tribe is short on people!”
“In that case, we’ll just take it slowly.” Zhou Ji said.
The priest took in Zhou Ji’s lazy, languid appearance and felt extremely helpless.
He was working so hard. How could Zhou Ji take it so easy?
“Don’t worry. Things will always work out.” Zhou Ji said. Weren’t they just short on people? When they figured out how to fire pottery, and there was no shortage of food in their tribe, they would definitely be able to attract people from other tribes.
Perhaps they could even go and attack the Giant Tiger Tribe then.
Zhou Ji was just thinking of this when someone suddenly came over, “Priest, priest, a group of people came to our tribe!”
“Who is it? Are they enemies?” The priest immediately asked.
“No, these people are thin and look like they’re close to starving. They should be wandering beastmen, but they’re a bit strange. The entire group of people actually have no children amongst them…” That person began to describe the group.
The priest didn’t hear what was said after that. His expression brightened, and he immediately looked at Zhou Ji, “Zhou Ji, you’re really worthy of being the Beast God’s messenger! You said that things would work out, and the matter was instantly resolved!”
Zhou Ji: “……” Could things be so coincidental?