Ch4 – Hunting
Zhou Ji didn’t speak after that.
Xiong Ye felt that there should be no such animal called ‘Ji’. He thought that Zhou Ji had most likely seen that everyone else had two-character names and wanted to be the same, so he gave himself a name like ‘Zhou Ji’.
After being busy all day and moving the pieces of wood to the entrance of his cave one by one, Xiong Ye was very tired even though he was in good health. He sank into a deep sleep as soon as he lay down.
It rained the next day; a continuous drizzle.
When Xiong Ye opened the door, he was met with a face full of rain and mist and shivered.
He began wondering if he should wear animal skins on his upper body like Zhou Ji but soon rejected the idea.
It would be too much of a hassle, not to mention that he basically always hunted in animal form. Not only was he unafraid of the cold, the skins would just become a hindrance.
The cave Xiong Ye lived in faced south, which was great, but it was positioned rather high up and accessing it was somewhat inconvenient. Before he had moved in, there had only been a narrow platform at the entrance and no stairs leading up to the platform.
However, in the past few years, he had deepened the cave and widened the platform. He even chiseled out some grooves into the mountain face to make climbing up and down much easier.
Recently, the entrance to the cave was piled high with wood that made access difficult again, but Xiong Ye’s movements were dexterous, and he wasn’t concerned about it at all. In the blink of an eye, he’d already arrived at the base of the valley.
He was going to find Shi Li again.
The tribe’s hunting team went out every other day, and on days when they didn’t hunt together as a tribe, he would generally always go hunting with Shi Li.
His animal form was much heavier than Shi Li’s, and he was also more powerful, but his movements weren’t as agile as Shi Li’s animal form, so his overall fighting power wasn’t much higher.
In the past, they would combine the strengths of their animal forms by choosing a good place to wait and lie in ambush. When prey passed by, they would both leap out together with Shi Li aiming for the prey’s neck while Xiong Ye attacked from the side. As long as he could tip their prey off their feet, it would be as good as theirs.
The two of them had been hunting together for several years. They cooperated very well and were able to bring down some prey together from time to time, but Shi Li had become lazy ever since he joined the tribe and no longer had to spend all day worrying about his next meal...
This was a common problem for those who awakened lion forms. If nobody watched over him, and he was full, Shi Li could even sleep away an entire day and night.
However, Xiong Ye was different from Shi Li in that he would feel uneasy if he didn’t have any food saved up. Also... Shi Li had to support his mother and younger brother.
In their tribe, it was already pretty good for someone in Shi Li’s situation to support his mother, and they normally wouldn’t also raise their younger brother. In any case, their younger brother wouldn’t die of hunger, and beastmen who had reached his age could already go out and do some work.
However, Shi Li wasn’t like that. He treated his mother and younger brother very well and would usually rather starve himself in order to see them fed.
As a result, they required more food–Shi Li’s brother was growing and could eat more and more each passing day.
Xiong Ye arrived to the entrance of Shi Li’s cave and shouted. Yang Su came to open the door.
Yang Su’s attitude towards Xiong Ye was very good when he was still a child, but after he had awakened his sheep animal form at ten, his attitude towards Xiong Ye plummeted sharply. Xiong Ye had been very puzzled and had made it a point to ask Shi Li about it. Shi Li told him that after awakening into a useless sheep, Yang Su was unhappy about it and blamed them.
Xiong Ye felt that Yang Su shouldn’t act like that; hadn’t Mao Jin, who had awakened as a small cat, still taken on the responsibility of guarding the door?
Yang Su had awakened as a mountain goat, and according to the Grandpa Priest, this kind of animal could trot calmly along steep cliffs, use its horns to fight, and run pretty fast. In fact, it wasn’t that bad... But not only had Yang Su never practiced these skills, he was even reluctant to shift into his animal form and adapt to his new body.
“Yang Su, where’s Shi Li?” Xiong Ye asked.
Yang Su rolled his eyes at Xiong Ye but still replied, “I’ll go get him.”
Xiong Ye nodded but didn’t go in. He waited at the door.
Shi Li’s cave was divided into two halves. One half belonged to Shi Li–Shi Li did not like being disturbed when he was sleeping.
At this time, Xiong Ye watched as Yang Su walked over to where Shi Li was and called, “Elder brother, brother, Xiong Ye came to see you!”
“So noisy!” Shi Li’s voice was full of irritation.
Yang Su was stunned, then glanced at Xiong Ye and said, “It’s Xiong Ye who came to see you.”
Shi Li finally came out of the room. He clutched at his messy brown hair and said, “I’m hungry. Where’s the food?”
“It’s over there!” Yang Su pointed to the stone bowl that was sitting on a wooden table nearby.
Shi Li looked at the stone bowl and took in the meat and internal organs with teeth marks torn into it and suddenly felt disgusted with everything.
This was... making him eat what others had left behind?
Yang Su boasted, “Elder brother, mother and I left you most of the heart.”
“This heart was originally meant for me, right? You only left half of it for me? ” Shi Li was dissatisfied as he spoke. How long had it been since he had to eat anything that others had gnawed on beforehand?
Yang Su was already a little unhappy about Shi Li roaring ‘So noisy!’ at him when he went to wake him up earlier. Now that Shi Li was acting like this, he was even more shocked.
Shi Li’s character was a bit overbearing. He liked it when others followed him in all things, but he had always been very generous towards them. He had never bothered to nitpick about things within the family. Even if they had eaten all the meat that they had brought back yesterday, Shi Li would generally just find a way to go out hunting again rather than say anything about it to them.
It was precisely because of this that they didn’t want Shi Li to mate with Xiong Ye.
Could Shi Li and Xiong Ye really still treat them so well after they became mates and moved out?
Would they still be able to obtain a share of meat to eat from Shi Li?
Especially since Xiong Ye had always been indifferent towards them.
As of now, Shi Li and Xiong Ye hadn’t even become mates yet, but their family was already no longer being given meat!
Yang Su was instantly on guard and nervous.
After Shi Li lost his temper, his attention turned to Xiong Ye.
The current Xiong Ye was not very similar to the Xiong Ye he remembered.
The Xiong Ye in his memories was very strong and had an intimidating air. But the Xiong Ye in front of him was different. He looked young and immature, and especially tender.
Upon seeing him, Xiong Ye even smiled a little. His smile was very attractive.
Shi Li’s heart was moved. When he was young, he really, genuinely liked Xiong Ye. In their tribe, there was nobody more outstanding than Xiong Ye. However, after a long time, he became bored.
It was impossible for him to become mates with Xiong Ye again, but even if he didn’t become mates with him, he could still be together with him. The two of them could live like the vast majority of people in the tribe, and in the future, if they no longer felt suited for each other, they could part amicably.
No, there was no need to separate. When he became powerful, he would naturally have a lot of people by his side.
Those Beast Kings–many of them had dozens of wives and over a hundred children!
As for Xiong Ye... Although Xiong Ye was stubborn in his youth and wholeheartedly insisted on finding a mate to spend his days with, after many years passed, he would also change. As long as Shi Li was strong enough, Xiong Ye wouldn’t leave him, nor would he be able to leave him.
Shi Li was wrapped up in his thoughts, but Xiong Ye didn’t really notice. He just felt that the gaze that Shi Li was using to look at him was weird, and... Shi Li had wrapped a piece of hide around his upper body, just like Zhou Ji.
Didn’t he used to find it a bother to wrap himself up in hides? It had been to the point where he’d almost rather not wear a leather skirt around his waist.
Xiong Ye: “Shi Li, let’s go hunting.”
Shi Li didn’t want to eat something others had eaten before, and he remembered that Xiong Ye’s meat roasting ability was very good... He nodded.
Xiong Ye: “When I went out to the woods to chop trees last night, I saw some Hypsilophodon. It’ll be great if we can catch one of those today. If not, we can go catch fish.”
When the tribe hunted together, everyone cooperated and did their part and would always manage to obtain some harvest, but when the two of them went hunting on their own, they didn’t always catch anything–sometimes, they would lie in wait for half the day and end up with nothing.
When that happened, Xiong Ye would usually choose to go catch fish. If that didn’t work, they could still go and gather some edible plants.
When he had awakened his animal form around the age of ten, he used to run out of the tribe to practice his beast form. When he was starving, he would even gnaw on the grass and turf.
Of course, it was also because of this that he particularly hated eating grass.
Shi Li’s expression froze.
He had recalled how they hunted during this period of time.
Back then, he actually used his mouth to bite and pull down prey and would even sit at the edge of muddy little pools and waste half a day just to catch a few fish–he wanted to go to the river, which was bigger than the pools, to catch them, but Xiong Ye was afraid that there would be dangerous creatures there and didn’t let him go.
After recalling all sorts of things from the past, Shi Li was bound to disdain all of it, and at this point, he noticed that it was raining outside...
“It’s raining outside?” Shi Li frowned.
“Yes!” Xiong Ye was excited, “This kind of rainy day is great for hunting.” The light rain would interfere with the prey’s vision and smell, making it easier for them to catch their prey.
Shi Li: “I won’t go today. I’m not feeling well.” Compared to hunting, he should continue to cultivate! Sharpening an axe wouldn’t delay the cutting of wood; only when he was powerful would he be able to obtain other people’s respect!
In his last life, he only became a Beast King when he was fifty. In this life, if he started cultivating earlier, perhaps he could become a Beast King in his thirties!
“Do you have enough food?” Xiong Ye also frowned.
“Enough.” Shi Li said. Wasn’t there many people in their tribe who only participated in the group hunts and not starved to death? And they were given less food than he was.
“You’d better still come with me.” Xiong Ye continued. Shi Li couldn’t stand going hungry. Winter had just passed; prey was rare in early spring, and they didn’t have any food stored up... If they didn’t go hunting now, would Shi Li have enough to eat?
“I don’t want to go.” Shi Li said. What he found most annoying was when Xiong Ye forced him to do something he didn’t want to do. Couldn’t he just let him sleep?
Of course, he didn’t plan to sleep right now. He wanted to cultivate.
He had already begun cultivating yesterday. Although his progress was slow because he had only just started, he had already made some progress.
“Did you get hurt yesterday?” Xiong Ye asked. He had been with Shi Li when they went out for the group hunt yesterday. At the time, it hadn’t seemed like Shi Li was injured, but it was hard to say... Shi Li had always insisted on preserving his dignity.
“No. I’m just not feeling well.” Shi Li was a bit irritated by Xiong Ye’s questioning and turned to go back to his den.
Xiong Ye didn’t know what was going on with Shi Li. He looked up at the sky and helplessly went to look for Hu Yue instead.
Hu Yue was his half-sister – they shared the same father. She had awakened as a tiger.
They had a good relationship and often cooperated together during the tribe’s group hunts. If Shi Li was unwilling to hunt, then Hu Yue wasn’t a bad choice either.
It was still early. When Xiong Ye went over to find her, Hu Yue hadn’t set off yet and was still eating. After hearing why Xiong Ye had come by, Hu Yue said, “I agreed to go hunting with Xiong Bai. You can come with us.”
“Then I’ll go with you.” Xiong Ye agreed.
Xiong Bai was a woman who was around his age. His awakened bear form was a brown bear, the largest of the bear species, while Xiong Bai’s awakened form was that of a black bear only a third of his size.
Of course, even so, Xiong Bai’s fighting power was very strong–she was good at climbing trees, and not only could she keep a lookout for when the prey was approaching, she could also drop down from the tree unexpectedly and attack the prey.
Xiong Bai arrived soon after.
Although Xiong Bai was called ‘Bai’, not only was her animal form black, even her human form was quite dark-skinned. She was precisely the sturdy beautiful female Xiong Ye had met yesterday.
“Xiong Ye, you’re coming with us? Where’s Shi Li?” Xiong Bai noticed Xiong Ye, and her eyes brightened.
Xiong Ye was the most outstanding member of the tribe’s younger generation and was a bear just like Xiong Bai. Xiong Bai had liked him from an early age and used to run after him all day long.
Xiong Ye: “He’s not feeling well, so he’s not coming today. We should leave soon.”
Xiong Bai nodded, and the three of them quickly departed.
When the tribe hunted as a group, they would head towards places where prey was plentiful, but they didn’t do that when there were only a few of them.
The three of them headed towards the southeast part of the valley where the shrubbery grew densely.
In some places, the trees had grown very tall, so there were only deciduous and shade-loving plants underneath, but the trees here were quite low, and many flowers and plants grew in the underbrush.
Xiong Ye and the others shifted into their animal forms and slowly made their way forward. After a while, Xiong Ye suddenly straightened up and looked towards a certain direction. “There’s the scent of a Heterodontosaurus.”
The trio discussed it, then smeared dirt over their bodies to cover up their scents and chose some shrubbery to hide in.
They wanted the Heterodontosaurus to come their way, but that Heterodontosaurus didn’t follow their wishes... Instead, it went further and further away.
They could only find another spot and try again.
This time, they actually managed to see a three meter long Scelidosaurus eating a clump of ferns.
The Scelidosaurus’ back was covered with a thick layer of scales and sharp bone spurs. Many carnivorous dinosaurs did not like to prey on them, but Xiong Ye had a good method to deal with this kind of dinosaur.
“When Xiong Bai catches its attention, I’ll flip him over, and Hu Yue will attack!” Xiong Ye said. They couldn’t do anything to the Scelidosaurus’s back, but its stomach was its weak spot. Although his claws were ten centimeters long, they weren’t sharp enough. It was different for Hu Yue – as long as Hu Yue attacked, she could easily tear through the dinosaur’s abdomen.
Of course, Hu Yue had no way to topple the three meter long Scelidosaurus...
The three of them hid themselves well, staring at the Scelidosaurus as though watching a small mountain of meat.
The author has something to say:
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About the weight of everyone in the story:
The brown bear on Kodiak Island is the largest bear in the world. The adult male bear weighs more than 680 kilograms and can ultimately weigh more than a ton. This kind of bear is more than three meters tall when it stands up, and it can smell things from up to 1.5 kilometers away.
The male lion usually weighs about 200 kilograms, and the heaviest is a little more than 300 kilograms.
Tigers weigh about the same as lions. If tigers and lions of the same weight fight, generally, the tiger will win.
Chinese black bears weigh about 150 kg.
As for mammoths... The present day African elephant usually weighs five or six tons. The previous adult mammoths weighed about 10 to 15 tons. They are in a completely different weight class than the animals above.
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Zhou Ji: I need to be very careful not to crush my wifey.....
Juurensha: Shi Li wants to have his cake and eat it too, and I am not okay with him being like oh, XY won’t and can’t leave me...what do you mean can’t????