Ch6 – Fight

While Xiong Ye spoke, he sniffed the air.

As a man who awakened as a brown bear, he had a very sensitive nose even when he wasn’t in his animal form.

Based on smell, he could clearly tell that the person in front of him was Shi Li.

But... Shi Li wasn’t like this.

Xiong Ye frowned as he looked at Shi Li.

Shi Li was taken aback when he heard Xiong Ye’s question.

For Xiong Ye to suddenly ask this... He realized that his reactions had made Xiong Ye suspicious.

He artlessly answered, “I said that after we’re together in the future, I will give you the best meat to eat every day.”

This promise was something that Shi Li remembered. After all, in his previous life, after becoming a Beast King, Xiong Ye had made it a point to bring it up, and Shi Li had always felt that this promise of his was particularly silly

Having achieved great strength, who would care about a bite of meat?

However, after saying that promise out loud once again... Shi Li inevitably recalled some of the things that had happened during this period of time.

When he was young, he had indeed liked Xiong Ye very much. Even putting aside his feelings, Xiong Ye had been the best choice at the time.

His mother, younger brother, and he had all been driven out of another tribe. His mother had been very weak, and he hadn’t awakened his animal form yet; they had almost starved to death and also encountered many dangers.

One time, when he was in danger, he had finally awakened his animal form, but he had still been young at the time. His awakened animal form was also that of an immature cub, so he had been unable to hunt at all.

If he had awakened earlier, perhaps his family might not have been expelled from the tribe out of consideration for his animal form, but he just had to awaken a bit too late.

For a child with a newly awakened animal form, no matter how powerful, the animal form was completely meaningless. In fact, he had been even more hungry because he now needed more food.

It wasn’t until he stole Xiong Ye’s fish that he began to have a relatively stable life–the Big Bear Tribe’s territory had been chosen by the Big Bear Tribe’s previous priest. It was near the river, surrounded by many edible plants, and had the relative safety of being encircled by mountains... Finally, they no longer needed to worry about being ambushed in the middle of the night when they slept and end up unable to see the sun rise the next day.

Yet his mother and younger brother were like two mountains that weighed on him, and he had to find a way to ensure they could eat well.

During those years, he had felt especially stifled all the time as he worried about food every single day. During that period of time, only Xiong Ye could make him feel a little more relaxed.

It was young Xiong Ye who had taken him to the river to catch fish and shrimp, and it was Xiong Ye who had taught him what was edible and what wasn’t. It was also Xiong Ye who had given him food several times when he was almost unable to hold on any longer.

At the time, he had been genuinely grateful to Xiong Ye. He had also liked Xiong Ye, so after they both reached adulthood, when Xiong Ye suggested that they become mates, he hadn’t hesitated at all before agreeing.

But later on... Shi Li felt that he had really been quite foolish to return that tiny, little favor with the rest of his life.

He also began to be repulsed by Xiong Ye’s entire existence.

Everyone knew that he had nearly starved to death as a child and that it was Xiong Ye who had saved him.

Everyone felt that without Xiong Ye, there would be no current him.

Everyone thought that he had only become a powerful Beast King because of Xiong Ye.

......

Xiong Ye had always done very well, and everyone around them liked Xiong Ye.

He hated this, and after Xiong Ye died, he even felt like he had been liberated at last.

Xiong Ye had indeed helped him, but he had only given him a few mouthfuls of food, and Xiong Ye had helped others too... Why did he have to be tied to Xiong Ye for his entire life just because of this?

Shi Li truly did not want to live in Xiong Ye’s shadow all his life just like he had in his previous life.

Having been reborn, he wanted to live for himself for once.

Xiong Ye’s heart settled when he heard Shi Li repeat their old promise.

He didn’t know when he had started to like Shi Li, but he knew that while boys of the same age as him were talking about Hu Yue or Xiong Bai or discussing the tribe’s most beautiful woman Lang Yin, he only thought of Shi Li.

Women in the tribe all liked strong or good-looking men. Some men, who couldn’t find women who were willing to be with them, would choose to be with other men.

He knew that there was such a thing, but he never thought he would do something like that too until he was fifteen. After all, he was very strong, and he knew that there would definitely be a lot of women who would want to be with him.

It was just that, since he was young, he had never wanted a harem of women. He only wanted to have a single mate, and then focus on raising their children well...

Of course, those were all matters of the past. When he was fifteen, he discovered that he liked men. He liked Shi Li.

And Shi Li should like him too; they were always together. At the end of the previous year, he had asked Shi Li if he would be willing to be together with him, and Shi Li hadn’t hesitated at all before agreeing.

Shi Li’s strange behavior these past two days might be because he had encountered something–Yang Ying and Yang Su always liked to say bad things about him.

“Shi Li, did you get caught up in something?” Xiong Ye asked.

Shi Li looked at Xiong Ye, then shook his head testily, “No.”

“Here’s half of the Scelidosaurus meat. You should eat better these days. In half a month, we’ll become mates.” Xiong Ye said. Now that they were talking about the mating ceremony, he was rather excited and looking forward to it.

The mating ceremony required them to take on their animal forms. He had decided to eat more so that his fur would be smooth and glossy when the time came.

Of course, it was the same for Shi Li. Shi Li was very particular about his fur, and Xiong Ye also hoped that Shi Li would be beautiful for the ceremony.

Shi Li abruptly came to his senses. He suddenly realized that not very many days from now, he was going to become mates with Xiong Ye.

This could not happen no matter what.

Shi Li didn’t even think about his words before they left his mouth, “We’re still young. Can we not be in such a hurry?”

Xiong Ye’s heart that had just settled down stuttered into turmoil once again, “What do you mean?”

Shi Li was a little afraid of Xiong Ye, but he definitely wasn’t afraid of the Xiong Ye in front of him, “Xiong Ye, are you sure you want to spend a lifetime with me? We still have decades of life in front of us, you...”

“I’m sure.” Xiong Ye interjected. He had gone out early this morning and braved the wind and rain to go hunting. He hadn’t felt cold then, but now, he suddenly felt... When the wind mixed with the drizzling rain and blew against his body, it was truly cold.

“But I’m not sure. Xiong Ye, I’ve thought about it carefully. I want to have children.” Shi Li said.

Xiong Ye now understood why Shi Li had been so strange these past two days.

Shi Li was regretting his decision!

Although he had been the one to propose, becoming mates was something that Shi Li had agreed to himself. Now, there were only a few days left, and Shi Li was actually going back on his word!

The whole tribe knew that they were going to become mates!

Xiong Ye’s expression was cold as he asked, “You want to go back on your word and not become mates with me?”

Shi Li nodded, then saw a large piece of bloody meat come flying towards him...

Xiong Ye threw the Scelidosaurus meat that he had been holding in his hand straight at Shi Li, then followed it by rushing over. He punched Shi Li, who had just avoided being hit by the meat, in the face.

Shi Li roared and immediately turned into a lion. Xiong Ye didn’t hesitate as he followed suit and began to fight Shi Li.

From the perspectives of people in the tribe, Shi Li’s and Xiong Ye’s fighting power was similar, and this was indeed the case.

Xiong Ye was large, and he was strong, with an animal form twice as heavy as Shi Li’s, but he wasn’t as agile as Shi Li. Although his claws were ten centimeters long, they also weren’t as sharp as Shi Li’s because they couldn’t be retracted.

When they went hunting, he didn’t have much of an advantage.

Now though, the two of them were stuck close together, and the platform in front of the cave entrance was very narrow.

And...... After becoming a Beast King, Shi Li had no longer needed to hone his fighting skills. He could use his strength to crush all the nearby dinosaurs and the overwhelming majority of other beastmen, so he hadn’t hunted for himself in decades.

It was different for Xiong Ye. At his age, he was spending all day learning how to hunt and make full use of his strength during a fight. He had already worked out a set of combat moves.

The brown bear that had gotten much skinnier after winter pinned the lion underneath him. His claws were everywhere, and several bloody wounds lacerated across the lion’s shoulders and back haunches. A large amount of the lion’s short fur had been torn off, and when the lion turned his head to bite him, he ended up getting slapped across the head.

The lion struggled violently but couldn’t escape. He could only whine and cry out.

Xiong Ye beat Shi Li a few times and then let him go.

He knew that Shi Li wasn’t actually that weak. Shi Li probably hadn’t resisted just now because he knew he was wrong and felt guilty.

Xiong Ye stood up and was about to shift back into human form, but he once again felt like he had been forced into a truly awful and embarrassing position... The almost three meter tall brown bear kicked the lion, then picked up the Scelidosaurus meat and turned to leave.

After taking a few steps, he turned back again to pick up the piece of hide he had been wearing before he changed forms.

They had kicked up a big stir, causing many people in the tribe to look their way. Each and every one of them had faces full of confusion.

Meeting the gazes of these people, Xiong Ye felt a little humiliated and left quickly.

But Shi Li felt even more humiliated.

Shi Li hadn’t expected that he would be completely unable to resist Xiong Ye’s attack!

No, no. It wasn’t that he was unable to resist. He had merely underestimated his opponent. Besides, he couldn’t bring himself to fight savagely like Xiong Ye.

After he started cultivating properly and grew a little stronger, Xiong Ye would have to give up all thoughts of beating him!

Shi Li was too ashamed to take on human form. He turned around and went back inside in his animal form.

He wanted to walk away with dignity, but the wounds on his body crippled his efforts... In the end, he could only hobble unevenly back into his cave, not even picking up the clothes he had left on the floor.

Finally, it was Yang Su who came out of who knew where who jumped out, picking up Shi Li’s hides, and bringing them back to the cave.

The sound of a lion roaring came out of the cave, and Yang Su soon hurried out of the cave. He looked pitiful as he closed the door to the cave and left dejectedly.

He hadn’t taken many steps when he noticed a cave with its door open nearby. Zhou Ji was sitting lazily at the entrance, looking at the spot where his elder brother had just fought Xiong Ye.

Yang Su lost his temper. He snatched up a nearby stone and threw it at Zhou Ji–he didn’t dare provoke anyone else in the tribe, but he wasn’t afraid of Zhou Ji at all.

Zhou Ji turned his body to the side and dodged the stone, then hooked the door to his cave with a foot and closed it, leaving Yang Su outside.

Yang Su spat at Zhou Ji’s cave door, then ran down to the valley. As a result, he had only taken a few steps when he was tripped by a tree root that came out of nowhere, tumbling dizzily downwards.

Inside the cave, Zhou Ji took out a fruit that shouldn’t have been available in the current season and chomped down on it.

xiin: did you guys see that? that tree root! :blob0w0:

Juurensha: Well on the plus side, at least they broke up.