Once the cubs grew a little, they could finally leave the nest and occasionally wander around the cave to play.
The two adults would watch over them, stepping in to stop them whenever they tried to approach dangerous areas.
Sometimes, they would pile several coils of rope made inside the cave to form a protective circle, trapping the cubs in a small enclosed space, unable to get out.
“Mother, my foot is caught by the rope!” Da Mao exclaimed in alarm.
Ayue put down the small knife in her hand and came over to see.
It turned out that Da Mao’s paw was hooked by the rope, which was why he said his foot was “bitten” by it. She couldn’t quite hold back her laughter and said, “Alright, Da Mao, your foot is hooked by the rope. You all be careful—don’t let the rope catch your feet later.”
Da Mao hid beside Er Mao and Rong Rong, leaning close to their ears and said with lingering fear, “You guys saw that just now, right? The rope wouldn’t let go of my foot, it was so scary! But our mother is even more powerful.”
Er Mao nodded hesitantly, “Big brother, if you’re careful, you won’t get caught.”
Er Mao and Rong Rong were also climbing on the rope here, trying to get out quickly, but the rope blocked their way.
The cubs were curious about everything around them and interested in the things appearing near them.
After being stuck in this little space for a while, they began wanting to run outside.
Rong Rong looked at his two older brothers and stretched out his paw to demonstrate, “If you stretch your foot out and then pull it back like this, it’s easy to get unstuck from the hooked rope.”
“How amazing!”
Da Mao and Er Mao crowded around, clearly treating it like a new game.
They reached out their paws to hook the rope on purpose, letting themselves get caught and then freeing themselves.
After learning the trick, Da Mao and Er Mao immediately loved this game.
Rong Rong wandered around, examining the ropes nearby, comparing in his mind to find an easier spot to get out.
After playing for a while, Da Mao and Er Mao noticed Rong Rong was missing. They ran over to him, concerned. “Rong Rong, why aren’t you playing with us?”
Rong Rong said, “I want to go out and play over there.” He casually pointed his small wings in a direction where the outside world looked more interesting.
Da Mao shook his head, “We can’t get out.”
Er Mao refused, “I want to play here.”
Rong Rong looked at them with a mixture of frustration and disbelief, but since they didn’t want to go out, there was no way to drag them along.
Ashi carried a bucket of water on his way back.
He watered the medicinal herbs at the entrance and then stepped inside the cave, letting out a slight sigh, helplessly saying, “The weather is getting hotter and hotter.
I wonder when it will finally rain?” After the rain, the temperature would drop a bit, and no matter what they did, it would feel much more comfortable.
During the day, they let the cubs play inside the cave while the two adults rested nearby.
Ayue looked at the gradually growing pile of dried meat in the cave and smiled. “Tomorrow, a new little market opens. We can go there to exchange some things. Why don’t you all come along to play as well?”
Ashi glanced at the little ones beside him in surprise. “Taking the cubs out together?”
If they didn’t bring the cubs, one of them would have to stay behind to watch over them.
“Yeah. You want to buy some things the house needs, and it’ll be good for you to get familiar with the others again. It’s been a while since we’ve gone out together. We might as well take this chance to have some fun.”
Both Ayue and Ashi had been holding back a bit of frustration recently, which led to a significant increase in the number of prey caught.
They ate mostly meat every day, occasionally some fruit to improve the taste.
Summer was too hot, but luckily they could see everything around them clearly at night.
Otherwise, like other beastmen who hunted early and returned late, they still wouldn’t catch much prey, and such days were very hard for beastmen.
Recently, they had been eating meat freely.
Not only had they not lost weight, but they’d also gained some flesh.
Ayue tried hard to catch various prey, but sometimes after a whole night outside, she couldn’t catch good prey.
She would then casually catch some smaller animals, prioritizing filling their stomachs.
They ate to their hearts’ content, and almost nothing of the prey was left over.
Most of it went straight into their stomachs.
Eating so much meat made their feathers much smoother.
Ashi chose a basket for carrying the cubs and arranged, “I’ll take the cubs, and you carry the dried meat.”
The cubs were almost two months old and hadn’t been outside yet.
This was the perfect time to take them out for a little fun.
He hadn’t been to the market in a long time, and the cave was running low on some supplies.
Salt at home was used up very quickly, mostly on dried meat.
They replenished salt by drinking the blood of prey.
In summer, they didn’t need extra saltwater.
The salt at home was mainly for making dried meat—without salt, the dried meat would spoil easily.
“Alright, then two mornings from now, we’ll set off early to avoid the heat.” After a brief discussion, they quickly settled on their plan.
··
Two days later.
Early in the morning, Ashi got up to feed the cubs.
Just as Ashi finished feeding, Ayue returned carrying a plump wild chicken.
“You’re up so early. Aren’t you going to rest a bit more?” Ayue quickly processed the prey, ate some herself, fed some to Ashi, and wrapped the tender meat in leaves to put into the basket. It would serve as food for the cubs on the journey. Their trip would take quite some time, and the cubs would get hungry midway, so preparing food was necessary.
Ashi smiled, “The cubs are hungry. Feeding them got me up as well.”
Ayue nodded, noticing everything was ready.
The water pouch was placed beside the tied meat.
She went over and gently touched the cubs with her wings, deliberately teasing them with the wingtip, making them leap up to chase it, their happy and playful sounds filling the air.
Ashi checked the items again, carrying some medicine powder packages. “It’s getting late; we should set off.”
Ayue carefully placed the cubs into the basket they’d prepared last night.
Many large leaves were attached around it to block the wind.
Along with a nest made of fur, the cubs inside were warm and secure.
“Let’s go.”
Ashi cautiously carried the basket away, while Ayue carried the tied dried meat and followed.
As the two adults spoke, the cubs were awake and noticed they had been moved.
They immediately became excited and happily explored their new surroundings.
“Rong Rong, Rong Rong, look, this place is so comfortable!”
Da Mao rolled fully onto the fur, even doing a somersault.
His feet pressed into the soft fur, and he exclaimed again and again in amazement.
Er Mao and Rong Rong stayed by Da Mao, getting bumped a few times.
They quietly moved aside, watching Da Mao’s silly happiness from a corner and sighed.
Da Mao was carefree all day long—it was truly good to be like that.
Ayue and Ashi flew out slowly this time.
The cubs stayed in their temporary nest inside the basket and didn’t feel the bumps.
Ayue and Ashi preferred to be tired than accidentally hurt the cubs.
The cubs had just eaten their fill and were full of energy.
They played in the nest for a while, then rested on its edge, looking up at the beautiful blue sky.
The basket was tightly wrapped all around, so the cubs couldn’t see anything but the sky through a gap above.
Ayue occasionally flew overhead to check on the cubs.
Seeing they were behaving well, she kept flying forward.
“Rong Rong, where are we going to play now?” Da Mao shook his little paws happily.
Rong Rong looked at the scenery outside and whispered, “We’re going to the market!”
Er Mao curiously asked, “What’s the market?”
Rong Rong thought for a moment, then said, “It’s when we take the extra things from our home that we don’t need for now and exchange them for things we do need.
The market is a place where we meet other beastmen to trade.” Since explaining clearly at once might confuse them, he summarized it in his own words.
Da Mao was still confused, “We don’t have any useless things at home!”
Er Mao thought for a bit and gave a clear example, “Big brother, it’s like when you trade your feathers with me for food.”
Da Mao loved to eat.
When he was full but still wanted to eat more, their parents wouldn’t feed him, worried he’d overeat.
Er Mao was a bit thin but liked beautiful feathers.
Since he couldn’t eat much, he would secretly save some food, digest a little, then eat the rest.
Da Mao would trade pretty feathers he found for food with Er Mao.
Da Mao suddenly understood and nodded.
Next moment, Da Mao grew a little anxious, “Why didn’t Father and Mother tell us earlier? I didn’t bring my feathers to trade for food. What do I do now?”
“I want to eat something delicious.”
“Rong Rong, do you want to eat something delicious?”
Rong Rong straightened his expression and said seriously, “Big brother, don’t worry. We’re still small and can’t bring much with us. When we grow up, we’ll bring things to the market. Today, we’re just going to watch the fun!”
For now, they just needed to placate them.
Anyway, since they were still young, they’d probably forget all about this when they grew up.
Beastmen from the Huan Shan Tribe heading to the little market were also on their way.
Most beastmen left early to avoid the heat and prevent getting sick.
Ayue and Ashi flew over, meeting other tribe beastmen on the way, some of whom had already arrived at the market.
The more heat-sensitive beastmen left earliest.
Ashi and his family landed on the ground.
Not far away, other Huan Shan Tribe beastmen who had just arrived witnessed them and smiled, “Ashi, bringing the cubs out to the market today?”
Many fierce beasts had taken human form, and many carried cubs—most holding those not yet able to shift in their arms, irresistibly cute.
Ashi smiled and nodded, praising, “Your cubs look really sturdy.”
The dog beastman A Huang grinned widely, “Your little ones are lively too.
Bringing them to the market, be careful not to go where it’s too crowded—it’s dangerous.”
“Ayue, Ashi, you brought the cubs to the market?” Granny A Shan came over with her own cubs, walking calmly.
Ashi nodded, “Yeah, we wanted to take the kids out since they’re a bit bigger.”
Seeing more and more beastmen arrive, Ashi greeted them before he and Ayue entered the little market.
Though it was called a little market, it was quite lively.
The cubs stayed inside the basket, but the leaves and fur covering it were removed, allowing them to peek out through the gaps while still being well protected.