Ch107 – Spring Is Here
Zhou Ji didn’t really enjoy telling stories. He felt that the stories he told were really boring. They were simply about two bears reaching adulthood, deciding to go out and see the world, and therefore leaving the tribe that they had grown up from childhood in to begin wandering the world. They encountered all sorts of dinosaurs on their journey, and slowly became stronger…
However, for Xiong Ye, this was a very good story.
In fact, he didn’t think that this was a story. He thought that all these things should all have really happened.
“Zhou Ji, are Xiong Da and Xiong Er the ancestors of our Big Bear Tribe? Did the Beast God tell you this story?” Xiong Ye’s expresion was full of curiosity.
Zhou Ji: “……” Sorry, those two bears aren’t the ancestors of the Big Bear Tribe. They actually exist in a cartoon series with several hundred episodes. If it hadn’t been for the apocalypse, they might have even lived for thousands of episodes.
The two of them spent time together and chatted together, and they soon grew hungry.
Zhou Ji took out some barley, smoked meat, and preserved vegetables to make meat and preserved vegetable pancakes.
Regardless of whether it was smoked meat or preserved vegetables, neither of these things were very healthy. However, based on his and Xiong Ye’s current physical condition, the impact wouldn’t be too big even if they ate hundreds of pounds of such meat and vegetables.
After eating, Xiong Ye lay down on top of an animal hide set near the fire and began to feel drowsy.
There was a bed inside their bedroom, but it was warmer by the fire, so he simply chose to lay down there.
Zhou Ji laughed a little when he saw the situation, and then lay down beside Xiong Ye.
The snow fell for two days and two nights. The entire world seemed to be dressed in white and decorated in silver; white snow stretched as far as the eye could see.
When Zhou Ji opened the window to let in some fresh air, he was shocked by the scenery outside–during the end of the world, even if it snowed, that snow wouldn’t be white. Additionally, there would also be some disgusting zombies that popped out of nowhere.
“Zhou Ji, don’t stand in the wind for too long.” Seeing that Zhou Ji was standing by the window, Xiong Ye called out to him.
Zhou Ji closed the window, “I’m going to take a walk outside.”
“What are you going outside for?” Xiong Ye asked.
“Casually taking a look around.” Zhou Ji replied.
“Wear more clothes. Hurry back when you’re cold.” Xiong Ye had originally wanted to stop him, but after thinking about it, he agreed to let him go. Zhou Ji had always stayed in the cave before without leaving and might have never seen snow before. It wasn’t a big deal to let him go out and play in it for a while.
With this in mind, he took out another piece of animal hide and covered Zhou Ji with it.
Zhou Ji didn’t reject it, wrapping the animal hide around him as he went outside, strolling around the yard outside their house.
Seeing that Zhou Ji didn’t intend to go far, Xiong Ye said, “Zhou Ji, I’m going to go out for a while. I’ll be back soon.”
“Alright.” Zhou Ji agreed.
After Xiong Ye left, Zhou Ji quickly let go of the animal hide. He used his spiritual powers to make a snowball, then made a snow sculpture of a sitting bear in front of the house.
Since he had his spiritual powers, he wasn’t satisfied with making an ordinary snowman. A snow bear was obviously much better looking.
Like this, Xiong Ye would also be happy when he saw it.
While Zhou Ji was using his spiritual powers to cheat and make a snow bear, Xiong Ye had already arrived at the tribe.
After they entered winter, most of the tribe’s work had stopped, but there were still some things that had to be done.
For example, they had to feed the dinosaurs.
The large dinosaurs in the tribe had already been killed, but those docile dinosaurs of a suitable size had been kept alive. They had decided to continue breeding them.
In order to keep these dinosaurs from freezing or starving to death, not only had the tribe prepared some grass in advance, they’d also built a mud house for them inside the fence where the dinosaurs all lived.
Xiong Ye wandered everywhere around the tribe.
There were over four hundred former slaves who had joined the Big Bear Tribe. They all lived in the place where pottery was fired in houses made out of mud.
In order to make things easier, these houses were all connected together in a row. Not only did that mean they had to build one less wall, it was also better for preserving warmth.
When Xiong Ye went over, he saw some people sweeping away the snow in front of the entrances to the huts and the rooftops. They smiled and greeted him when they saw him, and repeatedly marveled to him, “Chief, this house made of mud is really warm to live in!”
“I’ve experienced so many winters since childhood but this is the best winter I’ve ever had.”
“Tribal chief, you’re all such good people!”
……
When Xiong Ye heard these words, he started feeling that this kind of weather wasn’t so cold.
These people now felt a sense of belonging in the Big Bear Tribe. After Xiong Ye finished one round of the area, he went to see what the situation was like in the valley.
In the valley, the people of the Big Bear Tribe were currently also clearing up the snow.
If they didn’t sweep the snow out of the valley, not only would the ground remain wet, it would also become very slippery. Because of this, they would always pile up the snow and bring it outside the valley every time it snowed.
The people of the tribe greeted Xiong Ye one after another when they saw him.
There was sufficient food this year, so everyone was smiling and very happy.
Xiong Ye went straight to the collective cave.
The powerful people of the tribe generally didn’t require much attention. It was the people who lived in the collective cave that needed him to take care of them a little.
There was a fire lit up in the collective cave, above which a pottery pot had been set up. Hot water was boiling in the pot.
“Grandpa Hou, how have you been lately?” Xiong Ye went to find the person he was most familiar with in the cave, the elderly man whose animal form was a monkey.
Back when he had originally intended to become mates with Shi Li, he had looked for someone to make a mattress, and Grandpa Hou had been the one he had asked.
“Of course I’m living a good life. I’ve never been better.” The old man laughed loudly, and the others were also very happy.
They had endless amounts of firewood, enough food, and could even constantly drink hot water… Their quality of life this winter was better than ever.
Xiong Ye sat down and started to chat with the elderly and children of the tribe.
The atmosphere was very harmonious. It wasn’t until Yang Ying and Yang Su arrived that everyone’s voices paused.
Xiong Ye looked over at Yang Ying and Yang Su, then soon looked away.
He had always wanted to be acknowledged by these two people, but now, to him, they were very ordinary members of the tribe, and he didn’t even like them very much.
After all, they were a little lazy. This was especially true for Yang Ying.
Xiong Ye discovered that Yang Ying’s expression had morphed to one of anger because he hadn’t paid them much attention, and she even glared at him. On the other hand, Yang Su lowered his gaze and was well behaved as he sat down nearby to listen to him.
“Yang Su, let’s go!” Yang Ying said.
However, Yang Su ignored her words, and didn’t leave. He stayed behind, and when Xiong Ye was leaving, he even caught up to him and said, “Chief, I’m sorry.”
Yang Su’s life could be considered good these days. After all, there was no shortage of food in the tribe, so nobody would short him of his share.
However, it could also be considered bad. He and his mother had never completely integrated into the tribe, and not only did they not like to work, their attitude towards Xiong Ye hadn’t been good. Everyone couldn’t help but exclude them a little.
At first, Yang Su blamed it all on his elder brother, and blamed Xiong Ye for not taking their old relationship into account. He was dissatisfied with various aspects of his mother’s behavior, and even more jealous of Zhou Ji. Yet after a while, he discovered that Zhou Ji and Xiong Ye didn’t think about them at all, and the others in the tribe no longer targeted them once they started to work hard. He was suddenly left a little confused.
He suddenly realized that Xiong Ye really wasn’t required to be nice to him.
Yang Su could no longer remember what the tribe he had been born into looked like, but the memories of starving before they arrived at the Big Bear Tribe were very clear, so he actually liked the Big Bear Tribe.
Now when he saw that his tribe was developing better and better, and other tribes were willing to join them, it made him proud.
At the same time, in the context of this bigger picture, he felt that he had really been wrong in the past.
Xiong Ye… really didn’t need to take care of them.
“It doesn’t matter.” Xiong Ye replied casually. He didn’t know why Yang Su was apologizing, but he didn’t really feel any hatred towards Yang Su.
Xiong Ye soon departed. Seeing that he’d left, Yang Ying came up and twisted Yang Su’s ear, “What did you look for Xiong Ye for? Don’t you think that he’s made our lives difficult enough?”
“He wasn’t the one who harmed us!” Yang Su insisted, “He saved us before.”
Yang Ying’s expression turned a little unnatural, “Your brother was caught because of him.”
“It was clearly my brother who stirred things up himself!” Yang Su said, “If the person who had been together with Xiong Ye had been me back then, I definitely would’ve stayed with Xiong Ye…” Xiong Ye was great! He had been particularly jealous of his elder brother at the time, but his big brother hadn’t cherished what he had!
And now, Xiong Ye was now Zhou Ji’s.
Yang Ying bowed her head and didn’t speak.
Yang Su continued, “Let’s focus on working hard.”
Yang Ying nodded.
Life in the tribe had gotten better recently, and everyone was talking about how amazing Xiong Ye was… Other than focusing on living her own life well, what else could she do?
It had been such a long time, and Shi Li hadn’t come back. Yang Ying decided to act as though he had died.
With that thought, Yang Ying relaxed a lot.
Xiong Ye was clueless about Yang Ying and Yang Su’s thoughts. He made another round outside, then returned home.
He then saw the big bear that was made out of snow.
Zhou Ji had come out into the snow earlier just to make this?
Xiong Ye quickly went inside the house and caught Zhou Ji’s hand, “Zhou Ji, did you get frozen while using snow to make such a big bear? Are your hands cold?”
“I didn’t get frozen.” Zhou Ji was smiling as he spoke.
“Do you really like my animal form? Should I turn into my animal form to play with you?” Xiong Ye asked.
“Alright.” Zhou Ji agreed, then watched as Xiong Ye swiftly took off his clothes and turned into a big bear.
The room that had originally been rather empty, was now suddenly crowded.
Xiong Ye knew that he was rather big and didn’t dare to move about casually. Finally, he only patted his stomach and expressed, ‘Zhou Ji, you can sleep on my body!’
“Alright.” Zhou Ji lay down on the big bear and brushed through the big bear’s fur with his fingers.
Xiong Ye was ‘touched’ by him like this and finally couldn’t take it anymore. He abruptly turned back into his human form and rubbed messily against Zhou Ji, “Zhou Ji, help me…”
Winter was definitely a season that encouraged people to do many ‘indecent’ things.
Xiong Ye and Zhou Ji spent most of their time at home. They were either sleeping or eating, or learning and telling stories.
The snow bear at the entrance slowly started to melt after a few sunny days, but it soon snowed again, and it ultimately never fully melted away.
Winter lasted for over three months.
The tribe never organized any collective hunts during these three months, but they did other things instead. For example, they fired more pottery.
Before winter came, the tribe had stopped making pottery in order to prepare for the winter. After winter arrived, they started to make pottery again.
Firstly, everyone was free during the winter, and secondly, it was very warm when they fired pottery.
They would choose sunny days to fire pottery, and a large area around the fire would heat up. It was warm and comfortable, and the people of the tribe could go roast themselves by the fire and catch some sun. It couldn’t possibly be any more comfortable!
When they built up more fires nearby and boiled soup to drink, that enjoyment was perfect!
In particular, the preserved vegetable soup that Zhou Ji had ‘invented’ had been unanimously praised by all; this slightly sour soup was really very delicious when drunk.
In the end, the day when pottery was fired became a gathering day for the entire tribe. Everyone would go to the place where pottery was fired to sing and dance. Even Zhou Ji wasn’t an exception.
Xiong Ye very much liked this kind of excitement, so Zhou Ji would follow him over to check it out.
However, he usually wouldn’t stay for long. After all, nobody bathed in the middle of winter, and the smell was quite terrible.
In fact, his and Xiong Ye’s bedroom smelled too and carried Xiong Ye’s smell… But he was already used to it and even enjoyed the scent.
By the time spring came, the tribe had accumulated a lot of pottery. It was also at this time that the Big Bear Tribe once again set out to obtain salt.
Before, they would go to the Green Hill Tribe to trade for salt. This time however, they were preparing to trade for salt with the Beach Tribe that the Green Hill Tribe used to trade for salt with.
“The Beach Tribe doesn’t have many people, but they’re very powerful, and nobody dares to provoke them. They believe in the Sea God. Their Sea God is very, very big and powerful!” There were people who had gone to the Beach Tribe before amongst the people from the Green Hill Tribe who had joined the Big Bear Tribe. At this time, they spoke a lot about the matters concerning the Beach Tribe.
Zhou Ji listened to their descriptions and finally learned that the majority of the people of the Beach Tribe’s animal forms seemed to be seals, sea lions, and other mammals that lived in or near the sea.
They usually lived on the beach and would leap into the sea when they encountered danger. They would also turn to their god for help.
“The Beach Tribe’s Sea God is real. I saw it once from the beach!” One of the people from the Green Hill Tribe spoke up, “The Sea God is really very, very big!”
Zhou Ji wasn’t convinced that a Sea God existed, but after listening to this person describe it… Zhou Ji suddenly thought of an animal–the blue whale.
The largest land mammal weighed about twenty tons, and his mammoth animal form was one of the largest mammals on ground. However, there were mammals that were larger than him in the sea.
Blue whales could weigh more than two hundred tons.
A mammoth was big, but when compared to a blue whale, it really didn’t amount to much… Could the so-called Sea God of the Beach Tribe actually be a very, very large beastman?
There were many huge dinosaurs and all sorts of prehistoric giant animals in this place. It should be the same for the sea, right?
Xiong Ye planned to go personally when they went to trade for salt this time. Zhou Ji thought about it and finally decided to join them.
He was worried about Xiong Ye.
Winter wasn’t completely over yet, but the tribe had already begun to prepare for this salt trade journey. They sorted out their pottery, animal hides, food, and the like, then split them up and packed them up well, ultimately preparing a lot of goods.
They had too many goods, so the number of people who would be going out on this excursion was quite large. The entire team consisted of a hundred people, and not only that, Xiong Ye and Zhu Zhan, as the two most powerful warriors of the tribe, would also be going .
On a sunny day, this team finally departed from the Big Bear Tribe.
The place they needed to go this time was much further than the Green Hill Tribe. It would take about a month just to get there.
Most of the people of the tribe had never been to such a distant place. Besides being a bit worried, almost everyone was also a little excited.
Xiong Ye was equally excited. He felt that he was just like Xiong Da and Xiong Er, and was about to start his own journey.
He stirred up the team by saying a lot of motivational words and also added that he would definitely lead everyone to successfully trade for salt.
The people of the team were very excited when they heard this. They felt that their tribal chief was very powerful. Yet this thought had only just surfaced in their minds when they watched him take on his animal form and allow Zhou Ji to ride on his body.