Interrupted halfway by the cubs, Ayue and Ashi temporarily set aside the matter of the Fox Tribe Beastmen family and focused on feeding the cubs.
Once full, the little ones looked much more energetic.
As the cubs grew day by day, they no longer just ate their fill and slept; instead, the three little ones would pile together, play around for a while as if fooling about, and only then fall asleep.
Ayue and Ashi stayed nearby, watching the cubs with satisfaction, finding them increasingly adorable.
Ayue and Ashi pulled over some furs beside them and gently covered half of the Bird Nest, tucking the cubs in to keep warm, allowing themselves a moment to rest nearby.
After some thought, Ayue spoke about their recent plans seriously, “From now on, no matter what happens, we must always keep at least one person in the cave to prevent the Fox Tribe Beastmen from causing trouble when we’re not home.”
Ashi nodded, saying, “Alright, they gave us a poisoned ceramic jar. As long as we pretend to keep using this jar, we don’t have to worry about them trying any other dirty tricks anytime soon.”
“But you,” Ashi warned, “when you go out hunting, it’s better to go somewhere farther away. Don’t get too close to the Fox Tribe Beastmen.”
He was worried because those Beastmen wanted him dead.
All their schemes so far had been stopped by Ayue’s vigilance—some intentional, some unintentional.
Not only was he still alive, but under Ayue’s protection, life had been quite pleasant.
Those people probably saw Ayue as a thorn in their side, an obstacle they wanted to remove as soon as possible.
Ayue shook her feathers, completely unbothered, confidently saying, “Don’t worry, I’m here to protect our home. I absolutely won’t put myself in danger!” The fact that she had protected Ashi for so long proved she was no fool.
It was the eighth day since the cubs hatched, and they had grown many fine, soft down feathers.
The days were warm enough that it was okay for Ayue and Ashi not to incubate the cubs in the nest during the day, but at night, someone had to keep them warm to maintain their body temperature.
Ashi and Ayue whispered quietly together.
Gradually, the anxiety in Ashi’s heart was dispelled.
They lived in the Mountain Ring Tribe, which was outside the control of most Beastman factions.
At most, the tribe had bought off that group of Fox Tribe Beastmen.
The other Beastmen mostly posed no problems.
Ashi looked at the food beside him.
He moved some closer and ate a good amount with Ayue.
They needed to build up their strength so that whatever happened in the future, their bodies could endure it.
The Beastmen opposing them now were Quadruped Beastmen, not Avian Beastmen.
Both Ashi and Ayue preferred hunting in remote areas.
In the desolate Mountain Ring Tribe, winged Beastmen had more advantages compared to others.
After eating their fill, they leaned together and quietly listened to the noises outside.
Some Beastmen had just handed over a ceramic jar.
The surrounding households probably had some goodwill toward the Fox Tribe Beastmen now.
The unhidden smiles of the outside Beastmen filled Ashi and Ayue with a growing sense of anger while they stayed in the cave.
Such a harmful thing—Fox Tribe Beastmen were truly cunning and sly.
Ayue nuzzled Ashi, feeling particularly reassured.
She knew she had to hunt more prey with thick fur next time.
Winter was cold here, and the cubs needed thick pelts.
All kinds of necessities had to be prepared early.
They were new here and lacked many essentials.
Thinking this over, Ayue and Ashi fell asleep.
They woke once in the middle of the night to feed the cubs.
When they woke again, they saw the evening glow outside, and the heat was slowly dissipating.
Ayue and Ashi got up to drink water.
They tore off the dried outer parts of the meat chunks to eat first, then woke the cubs and fed them the fresh meat inside.
The cubs opened their mouths wide, crying out when they didn’t get food, only quieting once they each had a piece.
Ayue and Ashi fed them until they no longer begged.
Then they ate most of the remaining meat themselves, leaving enough for the cubs to eat once more later.
Ayue stood up to stretch and noticed the water skins in the cave were nearly empty.
She picked up two water skins and said, “Ashi, I’m going out to fetch some water.”
“Alright, go fill them at that pool over there, and pick some fruit while you’re at it.”
The sun was strong every day, and the many fruits growing nearby had a sweet flavor.
Ashi liked the sweet fruits.
Once dried, they would save the dried fruit to boil in water during autumn, winter, and spring.
The boiled dried fruit softened, and the hot water took on a sweet taste.
Ashi’s past had been hard.
He once picked up dried fruit off the ground to eat, but they were hard and tasted bad.
Other Beastmen looked down on them.
He smashed the dried fruit with a stone and swallowed it bit by bit.
After some research, he found they were better after being boiled once.
That was when he started liking boiled dried fruit.
Now that they had come to a new place, Ashi’s preferences remained the same.
His life had been so difficult before that he liked sweet things.
Even though things were better now, he still enjoyed sweets.
Ayue flew out with the water skins in her mouth and quickly returned with some fruit.
Every time she picked fruit, she only chose those she had tasted.
Like a treasure, she pulled out several wild duck eggs from her bag and happily said, “A group of wild ducks flew by the water’s edge sometime ago. These are the eggs I found in the grass by the water. You like eggs, right? Here, have some.”
Ashi’s eyes lit up when he saw the many eggs and praised, “You have sharp eyes to find so many duck eggs. Tonight we’ll eat them all together.”
The water skins were hung back in their usual spot.
Ashi happily talked while fighting off sleepiness, his voice growing quieter until he finally fell silent.
Ayue looked over just in time to see Ashi’s peaceful sleeping face.
She glanced at the cubs, who were also resting to recharge—full bellies made them drowsy.
Ashi slept until afternoon.
When he woke, he ate a little to fill his stomach.
Then he heard Grandma Ashan call softly outside their cave, “Ashi, we’re going out to pick fruit.”
It was the hottest part of the day.
Looking outside, they could almost see the shimmering heat waves in the air.
Even ordinary animals avoided going out during this time, but it was also the safest time to go out.
The elderly, weak, sick, or disabled Beastmen in the tribe had little combat power.
Most of them chose this time to pick certain fruits they could sell.
Many Beastmen had various issues that prevented them from avoiding attacks by ordinary predators.
They took advantage of the hottest hours to stay out for half an hour.
No matter the harvest, they had to return to the tribe afterward.
In such scorching weather, everyone wore hats and stood under the sun for half an hour.
Their bodies would reach the limit, forcing them to return to rest, or else heatstroke could knock them out and make their family’s situation worse.
Ashi quickly packed his things and told Ayue, “I’ll go pick some fruit and be back in half an hour.”
After that, he joined the group and quickly walked out.
Upon arriving, everyone grabbed a vine with fruit and swiftly picked the bright red berries.
Ashi kept picking fruit, quickly filling half a bag.
Sweat poured down his body, soaking his rough cloth clothes.
Everyone was too hot to speak.
He mechanically repeated picking fruit, placing it in the bag, picking fruit again, and placing it in the bag, sweat dripping constantly from his face, not even stopping to wipe it.
It felt as if his entire body was being roasted.
“Half an hour’s up, back to the tribe!”
One Beastman shouted.
Everyone immediately tied up their bags and quickened their pace back.
The distance wasn’t far.
No one shifted form since they carried too many things and couldn’t easily manage the items.
They certainly couldn’t just discard their clothes.
When Ashi returned, drenched in sweat and carrying the fruit, exactly half an hour had passed since he left.
That half hour counted both ways.
Otherwise, staying in the sun for a whole half hour would have been unbearable.
Ayue looked at him with concern, “It’s too hot at noon. Don’t go out next time. The little money we get from selling these fruits isn’t much help to our family. If you get sick, I won’t be able to take care of everything alone.”
She couldn’t stop Ashi but wanted him to try it once and realize how hard, tiring, and unrewarding the work was—a waste of his time and energy.
Ashi wiped the sweat off his face, dismissing the matter quietly, “It’s fine. I’m not afraid of the heat. I had nothing to do at noon, so going out for a walk doesn’t affect me much.”
Ayue’s tone was firm and serious, “No, don’t push yourself. Otherwise, next time I’ll have to hunt more prey.” She’d rather take the risk herself than let him suffer so much.
Their main food source was still meat.
Fruits could be food but couldn’t be their sole diet.
A balanced diet of meat and plants was most important.
These fruits could only be picked during the hottest time of day, and the income was only about 1 Bei per harvest—a poor cost-performance ratio.
Ye Rongrong made hungry noises.
Soon, a tender piece of meat was dropped into her mouth.
After eating her fill, she didn’t lie down to sleep immediately but quietly observed the surroundings.
After this period of growth, Ye Rongrong’s eyes opened.
Her first instinct was to look down at herself and vaguely saw a furry body with slender claws.
Previously, Ye Rongrong had sensed something was wrong with her body.
But at that time, she only ate and slept every day, never having the energy to think further.
That question had lingered in her mind.
Now, seeing it with her own eyes, she confirmed she really wasn’t human.
Ye Rongrong sighed inside.
She’s not human!
Since she was here, she’d make the best of it.
Ye Rongrong comforted herself. Mama Owl and Papa Owl seemed to love them very much. If she wasn’t human, then so be it—she was willing to accept it.
While Ye Rongrong was thinking this, someone once again placed a piece of meat near her mouth.
Smelling the familiar aroma, she instinctively opened wide and caught the meat. She swallowed it down smoothly.
Ashi exclaimed in surprise, praising, “Our Rongrong is amazing! Though she’s not as big as Da Mao or Er Mao, she’s eaten quite a bit!”
Hearing the compliment, Ye Rongrong instinctively puffed out her chest, but the food in her stomach was too heavy.
Losing her balance, she directly toppled over inside the Bird Nest.
Ye Rongrong: “…”
The nest was soft, lined with fine grass and some feathers underneath.
The sudden fall didn’t hurt, only brought an indescribable embarrassment.
She lay there, wishing she could find a hole to crawl into and hide.
Ayue worriedly said, “Why is our Rongrong lying still like that?”
Ashi carefully reached out with the tip of his wing and touched Rongrong.
She moved a little but still didn’t want to get up.
Ashi laughed, “She must be full and wants to rest early.”
Ye Rongrong wanted to avoid everything and hide here.
However, Da Mao and Er Mao were overly lively little rascals playing nearby, occasionally nudging her.
Rongrong pretended to sleep for a while but eventually couldn’t resist joining their play.
The three little ones squeezed and jostled in the nest, sometimes losing their balance and falling forward, but quickly getting up to continue fooling around.
Ayue and Ashi stood nearby, completely absorbed in watching.
So, so adorable.