Waiting for the white smoke and fumes inside the cave to dissipate, they entered the cave once again.
At the entrance, several venomous insects lay sprawled; they had tried to escape to breathe fresh air but died from the smoke before they could make it out.
Ashi picked them up, wrapped them in a leaf, and tossed them aside.
He checked the cave thoroughly—no venomous insect carcasses were left behind.
Ashi instructed Ayue to soothe the young cubs while he went out to fetch a bucket of water.
Along the way, quite a few beastmen saw him and expressed concern.
“Ashi, I heard venomous insects appeared inside your cave? Are you all right?” A fox beastman with fiery red fur greeted him as she passed by, casually showing concern upon recognizing him.
Ashi slightly lifted his head but quickly lowered his gaze again, his fingers tightening around the empty bucket he carried.
He clearly recognized the striking face before him—it was one of the fox beastmen who had sent a poisoned ceramic jar to their family.
He knew the person before him was an enemy, probably here to spy on them.
The two groups weren’t sent by the same faction; their methods were different.
When the fox beastmen came to the tribe, they made a grand gesture—each household was gifted a ceramic jar, which helped them quickly blend into the tribe.
Many beastmen had good relations with the fox beastmen.
Ashi had taken the opportunity to check other households’ ceramic jars.
The others were ordinary, but theirs contained poison.
Such a covert, vicious method targeted only them; Ashi knew without a doubt this was a direct attack against him.
“We noticed early, so it’s not serious,” Ashi said quietly.
“It’s good you found out. Otherwise, the poison in those insects is so strong, by the time you realized, it would have been terrible,” said Ahong, the red-furred fox beastman, worry evident in her tone as she blinked at Ashi.
Ashi lowered his head, appearing embarrassed to avoid her gesture, but inside, he was afraid his eyes would betray all his hatred.
He replied calmly, “Yeah, no idea what rotten beastman did this nasty deed.”
“Beastmen who want to harm our family will bring ruin upon themselves—no descendants, exposed corpses in the wild.”
Others nodded in agreement.
Such a vicious beastman needed to be found quickly.
The thought of one hiding within the tribe, secretly targeting different families, was terrifying.
Ahong’s smile stiffened. “Yeah, sneaking venomous insects into others’ homes is terrifying!”
“Sigh, you just moved here, and this happens—must’ve scared you,” Ashi said with concern. “Nothing like this ever happened before. Since you just moved in, be careful.”
Some listening beastmen pondered this, while more tried to comfort Ahong, assuring her their tribe had always been peaceful, and nothing like this had ever happened before, so she needn’t worry.
The more they comforted her, the more forced Ahong’s smile became.
She sensed something was off.
Ahong cut them off with a smile and said softly, “Suddenly remembered I have some things to do, so I won’t keep you. I’ll head back now.”
Ashi caught a glimpse of the doubtful looks from the other beastmen and exhaled a breath of bitter air.
He thought to himself, they might not be as difficult to deal with as he imagined.
The heavy stone pressing on Ashi’s heart lifted just a little.
“Let’s go fetch water.” The daily water source was a mountain spring nearby, located at the tribe’s center, with many beastmen coming and going.
Ahong glanced back at their retreating figures, suspicion flickering in her mind.
Was Ashi’s remark just an unintentional slip or a deliberate hint?
Back inside the cave, another fox beastman, Aquan, approached Ahong and asked, “Ahong, how did the reconnaissance go?”
“Found nothing useful; instead, it made others suspicious of us,” Ahong said, pressing her lips in displeasure.
She had hoped to learn about Ashi’s family’s situation.
Confident in her beauty and popularity in the tribe, she thought that by giving Ashi a few kind looks, he would naturally become her loyal subject.
“What? Making others suspicious of us? You’re useless. You can mess up even the simplest tasks,” Aquan scolded.
Ahong lowered her head, filled with resentment.
Ashi was a weak, skinny beastman.
She rarely even glanced his way, and yet he didn’t cooperate at all.
No wonder he was being targeted deliberately—he deserved it!
“Brother, since we just arrived, this happened. Others might suspect us, but we didn’t do it. So we don’t have to worry too much,” Ahong explained, inwardly blaming those who had assigned them the task yet complained about their slow pace and brought in others.
Now they were carrying the blame for other beastmen’s deeds.
“Don’t bother with that. Whatever the other group did or got discovered for, it’s not our concern. Let’s use the local clay here to make a batch of ceramic jars. The issue on that side was just incidental. The poison inside these jars is enough to finish our orders,” Aquan said after some thought.
They had clear instructions and wanted to earn some money.
They were just two owl beastmen, and they had plenty of tricks up their sleeves.
Ahong’s eyes flashed with unwillingness.
Why would Ashi, such a worthless beastman, not fall for it?
But they had only recently moved into this tribe, and with the recent incident, she really couldn’t make a move.
Ahong wanted to pull some strings but remembered the rumors circulating about them lately, making her more disgusted.
She had no choice but to let it go for now.
Ashi returned to the cave with water.
Ayue took the bucket from him, worried: “Why did it take you so long to get water today?”
She had wanted to go herself, but Ashi insisted.
Ayue stayed behind to watch over the cubs and to check the ventilation opening to ensure no venomous insects crept inside.
Ashi briefly explained to Ayue that he had turned the tribe’s suspicions toward the fox beastmen.
They both agreed it was unwise to keep an eye solely on the fox beastmen.
The tribe was filled with many beastmen, and having this thought, they instinctively watched the fox beastmen closely.
If the enemies wanted to make a move, it wouldn’t be so easy.
“You kept the venomous insect carcasses I saw you hide. Are they useful?” Ayue found the insect bodies Ashi had secretly stored. Their living space was limited, and Ashi had just left them aside without properly hiding them—or rather, he hadn’t planned to hide them well.
Ashi replied brightly, “Yeah, they’re useful. The ones I wrapped and pretended to throw away were actually small stones.”
“The venomous insect bodies are poisonous. Be careful,” Ayue warned.
Ashi nodded but couldn’t help asking, “Don’t you want to know why I kept them? Leaving these poisonous things means I’m not planning anything good.”
Ayue sat beside Ashi, gently watching the cubs and smiled. “Probably to deal with the beastman who put the venomous insects into our cave.” She couldn’t help much, but at least she wouldn’t hold him back.
“Won’t you stop me?”
“No need here,” Ayue smiled. “In the original tribe, Stone City is completely controlled by other beastman factions.
Publicly and secretly, countless eyes are watching you.
If you make moves behind their backs, even before you harm anyone, they have every right to deal with you openly.
That would be bad for us.”
Ayue had sensed Ashi’s mood was off and that trouble could arise at any moment.
She had decisively taken others away and hadn’t noticed Ashi’s lingering thoughts on this matter.
Looking at Ayue’s gentle profile, Ashi opened his mouth but couldn’t say anything. He had never thought of this reason before.
Ayue had always been kind; he had misunderstood her…
Ayue leaned close to Ashi, her voice firm and confident: “With me by your side, nothing will go wrong.”
Ashi replied softly, “There’s no trace here, but on the other side, maybe we can find something. I’ll pay back those venomous insects twofold sooner or later.”
Ayue nodded, glancing outside at the fading daylight. She lowered her voice: “It’s windy over there. I’ll check later.” There probably wouldn’t be any traces, but she wouldn’t give up without a look.
Ashi had originally planned to inspect the place himself, but considering the smoke they had inhaled in the cave had affected him somewhat, he didn’t push himself and left it to Ayue.
Ye Rongrong lay in the bird’s nest, listening to the adults’ conversation.
She angrily flapped her little wings, vowing to herself that when she grew up, she would beat back all those evil beastmen!
Beat them twice as hard!
In her space, several poisonous creatures were confined to a certain area, all healthy now.
With a thought, she controlled their fate and no longer feared them.
Night fell.
Ayue silently left to hunt.
Before going out, she checked the cliff behind for any leftover traces, but unfortunately, found none.
The spot was a cliff, often windy, so any traces were blown away.
Ayue returned to tell Ashi she was going hunting.
Ashi wasn’t surprised—beastmen capable of such cruelty wouldn’t easily leave evidence.
They wondered if other beastmen known for catching or raising venomous insects might be suspects and decided to investigate further.
Ashi was busy preparing various herbs he had collected over time.
Different combinations produced different effects.
The hanging herbs on the wall were steadily decreasing, and he grew increasingly cautious.
He even transplanted some insect-repellent herbs near the door and scattered ground herbs he’d powdered into the corners.
Soon, they disappeared from sight, filling the cave with a faint herbal fragrance.
They grew accustomed to the scent and found it pleasant.
No insects appeared in the cave anymore.
Previously, hanging meat inside the cave for drying had attracted various flying insects, but now, they too had vanished.
Ayue’s hunting went well.
After an hour and a half, she returned with a young lamb in her jaws.
They ate first, then fed some tender meat to the cubs.
The rest was processed into meat strips, sprinkled with salt, and hung in a windy spot outside the cave to dry.
Ayue suggested, “You shouldn’t go hunting for a while. Get some rest.”
She still worried about Ashi coughing uncontrollably after inhaling the white smoke.
Ashi swallowed the itch in his throat and nodded faintly.
Just in time—he could use the days to package some medicinal powders.