Ch1 – Xiong Ye

The sun shone down from the sky and dappled across the luxuriantly green woods.

Giant trees spread out their branches and used their broad leaves to take in the sunlight.

The leaves of these trees were so large that only stars and dots of light remained by the time the endless sunshine fell on the vegetation below.

A gust of wind blew through, and the speckled sunlight flickered.

The wind caused the leaves to rustle, and a Lesothosaurus approximately one meter in length with tiny arms and powerful hind legs jumped out of the bushes.

This was a relatively rare, very small, bird-footed dinosaur. It was a hunting target for many carnivorous dinosaurs.

The Lesothosaurus raised its upper body and looked around. After determining that there was no danger, it used the arrow-shaped teeth on both sides of its jaw to bite off the leaves in the shrubbery and began to eat.

It ate very attentively, its mouth moving incessantly. But right at this moment, a huge brown bear sprang out from behind the bushes beside it and rushed over...

It was too late for the Lesothosaurus to escape the brown bear, and in an instant, there was silence.

The brown bear finally stood up.

The brown bear was more than two and a half meters in length, and when it stood up, one could see that the Lesothosaurus on the ground had been crushed – just now, the brown bear had used its own weight and crushed the Lesothosaurus to death... After all, even if he had lost a lot of weight over the winter, he was still 400kg while the poor Lesothosaurus weighed only a little more than 10kg.

The brown bear scented the air, then looked at the Lesothosaurus on the ground again before suddenly transforming into a tall, handsome, but rather slim man that was about 1.8 meters tall.

The man jumped behind the bushes and brought out a leather skirt made of dinosaur skin. He put it on before picking up the Lesothosaurus he had just caught and dashing through the forest, his honey-colored skin and fluttering dark green leather skirt blending in and out of the forest.

He ran very quickly and soon arrived at the valley under a nearby mountain.

The valley was not very big. It covered about eight to nine acres and had no vegetation. The soil on the ground had been trampled flat by people passing through so it was very smooth, forming a large square surrounded by mountains.

The square was surrounded by a number of shacks made of wood and other debris. A steep mountain slope on one side was covered in man-made steps and cave entrances from which people intermittently came and went.

Currently, dozens of men and women dressed in animal skins were busily doing things in one corner of the square. When they saw the man run in from outside, they greeted him one after another, “Xiong Ye!”

“Xiong Ye, you’re back!”

“Xiong Ye, you’re amazing! You just went out for a short while and still managed to catch a Lesothosaurus!”

Everyone’s faces were full of envy. One of the women, who had a beautiful figure, swallowed and said, “This Lesothosaurus is really substantial, it looks delicious!”

“I was lucky.” Xiong Ye, who was carrying his prey over, laughed and passed by the group as he headed towards the eastern part of the valley.

He was in a hurry to find someone—Shi Li will be very happy that he’d managed to catch some prey!

Those who spoke to Xiong Ye watched him go and returned to their work—they were cutting apart several Struthiomimus.

These Struthiomimus each weighed about two to three hundred kilograms and had been hunted down by the young warriors from their tribe this morning. Prey that had been brought down through collective hunting became public property that belonged to the entire tribe, and after the tribe had prepared it, everyone in the tribe regardless of their gender or age would have a share. Of course, the best parts would still be left to the fighters who participated in the hunt. As part of the main fighting force for the tribe, people like Xiong Ye and Shi Li would also obtain a portion of the prey’s heart and liver.

The viscera provided them with extra strength, made their eyes brighter, and was one of their most favorite foods. Some vagrant beastmen who hunted in their animal forms would tear apart their hunted prey’s stomach and eat the viscera raw as soon as they caught their prey.

The beauty that had coveted the Lesothosaurus in Xiong Ye’s hands cut apart the Struthiomimus’s long neck with a stone knife and stared at the back of Xiong Ye’s figure in admiration, “Xiong Ye is really powerful! He went hunting with everyone this morning and still has energy to go out again in the afternoon. It would be great if I could have a child with him!”

“Don’t even think about it. He likes Shi Li. When the time comes for the flame flowers to blossom, they will become mates with the priest’s blessing.” A skinny man next to the beauty spoke up.

In their tribe, the vast majority of people did not mate with others, but instead got together with whomever they liked. They would have children with whomever they wanted to have children with, and separate if they no longer liked each other.

Some women had seven or eight children, and the father of these children might all be different.

However, if two people swore to be mates in front of the Beast God on the day the flame flowers blossomed, they would no longer be allowed to separate, and the other beastmen would no longer try to hook up with them – it was a crime to break up a mated pair that had been blessed by the Beast God.

They had always believed in their lord priest’s words.

The beauty pouted after hearing what the skinny man had to say, “Who doesn’t know that? Alas! Why did Xiong Ye choose Shi Li as his mate? They’re both men, and Shi Li can’t even bear children for him!”

The men in the tribe gained more glory the more children they had. Xiong Ye’s father, the previous patriarch of the tribe, had sired nine children amongst five women. The current patriarch of the tribe, Xiong Ye’s uncle, had five children from three different women.

However, Xiong Ye was an anomaly. He actually decided to become mates with a man shortly after reaching adulthood.

When the beauty thought to this point, she felt that it was a great pity.

She grew up with Xiong Ye and was very fond of this man who was the strongest warrior in their generation. Xiong Ye had awakened as an extraordinarily powerful brown bear, and she had told her good friends that when Xiong Ye reached adulthood, she would sleep with him and give birth to his child.

But in the end, this person who was especially well suited to siring children and being a father couldn’t see things clearly and actually went to find a permanent mate!

It would be fine if he just wanted to find a permanent mate, but he went and chose a man from the tribe!

The beauty glanced over at the skinny man next to her and sighed.

Aside from Xiong Ye and Shi Li, the two most powerful warriors in the younger generation, the next strongest would be Hu Yue. Unfortunately, Hu Yue was female, and could not have children with her. And the next person after that... was herself!

She really didn’t want to have children with those men who couldn’t beat her in a fight and weren’t even handsome!

The beauty was extremely sad. She slammed her knife down and easily split the Struthiomimus’s leg bone into two halves.

These bones would be used to make soup – the bone marrow contained within was a rare delicacy that also provided them with energy. They couldn’t waste it!

While the beauty was still regretting that she couldn’t give birth to Xiong Ye’s children, Xiong Ye had already brought the Lesothosaurus with him and arrived at the eastern side of the valley where many caves had been excavated in the mountain.

They called this tribe the Big Bear Tribe because the people who had founded this tribe all awakened as giant brown bears. Every beastman would awaken their beast form at around the age of ten, and then they would be able to fight and hunt in their animal forms. Everyone would put the name of their animal form at the front of their names after their awakening.

For example, Xiong Ye was called ‘Ye’ until he reached the age of ten and awakened his brown bear form that was the same as his father’s. He then added ‘Xiong’ in front of his name, and his name became ‘Xiong Ye’.

Another example was Shi Li. He had originally been called ‘Li’, and after he awakened as a lion, he became known as ‘Shi Li’.

At the bottom of the mountain slope on the eastern side was a giant cave that was set aside as a collective living space for the children and the elderly. When going up the stairs beside it, one would arrive at the second and third levels that held many caves for the warriors who lived in the tribe. In front of each level of caves was an aisle around two meters wide.

Shi Li’s cave was on the second level.

Xiong Ye noticed Shi Li even before he began to make his way up the steps. He was wearing an animal skin skirt as he lay at the base of the valley on a vast stretch of dry grass, lazily basking in the sun, his eyes at half mast.

People who awakened as a lion all really liked to sleep, just like how those who became brown bears all had the habit of hibernating in winter... Shi Li’s current lazy appearance was something Xiong Ye saw often.

But he was still fascinated by it.

He really liked Shi Li and could never look enough... Shi Li was so attractive!

But it wasn’t that early anymore...

“Shi Li, wake up,” Xiong Ye called out as his mouth curved up in a smile. “I caught some prey!”

As warriors of the tribe, they would participate in collective hunts every other day. Today was a hunting day.

Shi Li ran a little too much this morning and had laid down after coming back, unwilling to go out again in the afternoon. However, Xiong Ye had worried that the food the tribe would portion out for them might not be enough, so he had made another trip.

His luck was not bad, and he had managed to catch a Lesothosaurus without hunting for too long.

Although the Lesothosaurus wasn’t big, when it was added to the food that the tribe would distribute to them, it was enough for him, Shi Li, and Shi Li’s family to eat their fill over the next two days. There was no collective hunt tomorrow, so he and Shi Li could go out again to hunt for additional prey that they could store up.

After going through a winter, he had lost a lot of weight, and his beast form was no longer as burly as it had once been. He now urgently needed to eat more.

Shi Li was lying on the dry grass. He opened his eyes, looked around and scowled, then quickly closed his eyes again.

“Shi Li, wake up!” Xiong Ye reached out and patted Shi Li on the shoulder.

Shi Li was suddenly awakened. He was shocked as he looked over at Xiong Ye, “Xiong Ye? You... Aren’t you...”

Shi Li shut his mouth abruptly, his eyes full of doubt and disbelief, staring at Xiong Ye as though he was some sort of terrifying dinosaur.

His expression made Xiong Ye feel rather strange, “Shi Li, what’s wrong with you?”

Shi Li didn’t speak. He jumped up suddenly, scowling as he looked around, then looked down at himself, even giving his stomach a pinch.

Shi Li was like Xiong Ye in that they were both very tall compared to the other people in the tribe, and powerfully built. His head of long, brown hair had grass stuck in it and was scattered wildly in all directions, swaying around along with his movements.

Xiong Ye found his appearance a little awkward and reached out to pull the grass from Shi Li’s hair.

This action brought Shi Li back to his senses, and he looked at him again.

Shi Li’s expression changed and then shifted again before he abruptly turned into a lion and dashed away.

Xiong Ye watched on blankly as Shi Li ran away, then picked up Shi Li’s animal skin skirt whose string had broken due to Shi Li’s sudden transformation, and headed towards the steps to the side.

That was Shi Li’s cave.

Shi Li, his mother, and his younger brother had come to their tribe eight years ago.

It was during the summer. Xiong Ye, who had always been fond of entering the water to catch fish had just awakened his brown bear form. Seeing his uncle catch fish in the river, he had followed by his side to learn and ended up learning to do it in exactly the same way. He turned into a small brown bear and caught quite a few big fish that he had been unable to catch before.

He bit the fish to death and left them by the river, planning to bring them back to eat. Unexpectedly, a dusty, grey lion cub popped out and ate his fish...

He rushed over to beat up the lion cub, knocking them unconscious, and frightening himself in the process. He quickly went to find his uncle for help, and then his uncle brought this little lion cub as well as the cub’s mother and younger brother back to the tribe.

That little lion cub had been Shi Li.

Shi Li had been suffering from hunger back then and fainted. He hadn’t suffered any lasting harm, but his mother had been very, very weak, and had almost died. The grandfather priest finally had to take out some medicinal herbs in order to save her.

From then on, the three of them settled in with the Big Bear Tribe.

Back then, their family was small, young, and weak, so they were not accepted as members of the tribe. Xiong Ye’s uncle, the tribal chief, only allowed them to live with the tribe and gather food from the surrounding area.

Three years ago, Shi Li was finally able to participate in hunts, and the tribe finally accepted this outsider family. Last year, when Shi Li became an adult, and grew increasingly powerful, the tribe finally assigned them a cave to live in.

During the years when Shi Li and his family lived on the outskirts of the tribe without being accepted as members, Xiong Ye had always taken good care of Shi Li and brought him along to catch fish, small dinosaurs, and even insects. The feelings between the two of them became better and better, and they were almost inseparable. At the end of last year, when the two of them reached the age of eighteen, they decided to be with each other exclusively – they wanted to become mates with the blessing of the Beast God.

Today though, Shi Li was acting strange... Before, Shi Li would have rushed over to discuss how to eat this Lesothosaurus with him, then given him some praise.

Xiong Ye was really puzzled.

Ch2 – Shi Li

Although Shi Li’s actions were very strange, Xiong Ye didn’t take it seriously. They had only just fought side by side this morning. As for just now... Shi Li probably had a nightmare?

Xiong Ye continued up the steps and soon came to the entrance to a cave. He shouted, “Aunt Ying!”

This cave was where Shi Li and his family lived. The cave wasn’t big, and it’s location wasn’t very good. The entrance was covered by a door that was made up of pieces of wood tied together by vines and plastered with mud, but it was still extremely thick and solid.

Xiong Ye had prepared this for them last year before the onset of winter.

With a lot of children to raise, Xiong Ye’s mother had never had time to concern herself with him. He had spent most of his childhood with the elderly and children of the tribe and had learned many crafts.

The door opened, and a middle-aged woman who was as thin and weak as a reedy bamboo came out. The area around her eyes and forehead was covered in wrinkles.

This woman was Yang Ying, Shi Li’s mother. She saw Xiong Ye and pulled a long face, “What did you come here for?”

Yang Ying didn’t want Shi Li and Xiong Ye to be together, and her attitude towards Xiong Ye had plummeted ever since Xiong Ye and Shi Li had decided to become mates.

Xiong Ye couldn’t really understand this. He was very strong, so for Yang Ying, him mating with Shi Li should clearly be a good thing, right?

As for being unable to have children... The tribe had so many children, so many orphans. If they wanted children, they could definitely bring a few of them back to their cave to raise... And even if they didn’t have children, what did it have to do with Yang Ying?

However, the person in front of him was Shi Li’s mother, and Shi Li still attached a lot of importance to her, so Xiong Ye’s attitude was always very good whenever he dealt with Yang Ying, “Aunt Ying, I brought down a Lesothosaurus and wanted to send some of it over to you.”

Only then did Yang Ying notice that Xiong Ye was carrying prey in his hand. Her eyes became glued to the Lesothosaurus as she reached out to take it.

But Xiong Ye didn’t give it to her.

Xiong Ye stretched out his hand and tore the Lesothosaurus into two, handing over the larger half that contained the internal organs to Yang Ying, “Aunt Ying, here you go.”

The Lesothosaurus had been dead for some time, so no blood dripped out when Xiong Ye tore it in half. Even so, the scene was bloody enough to stun Yang Ying, her disgust plain on her face as her hands stilled. She no longer tried to accept it immediately.

Xiong Ye saw that Yang Ying wasn’t reaching out to take it anymore and placed half of the Lesothosaurus on the stone platform beside the door. He nodded to Yang Ying and left.

In their tribe, children would leave their mothers after reaching adulthood, and most children left even before then and would no longer live with their mother from then on. At most, when the food that was portioned out to the elderly was insufficient, they would offer some extra food to the mother who had raised them—if their father had also taken on the responsibility to raise them, they would also give their fathers a share.

In their tribe, the relationship between parents and their children was not very close, and everyone was already used to it.

Xiong Ye treated Yang Ying well only because Yang Ying was Shi Li’s mother, but it was impossible to expect him to assiduously take care of Yang Ying.

After departing from Shi Li’s home, Xiong Ye hadn’t taken more than a few steps when he noticed a white-skinned young man sitting on the ground in front of another cave entrance. The man was chewing on what was most likely a plant stalk while staring at him... or was he staring at the meat in his hands?

Xiong Ye stopped and frowned as he looked at the young man.

The youth in front of him was called ‘Zhou’, and was two years older than him. In the tribe, they could be considered to be of the same generation, but they had never played together because Zhou was very dumb and hardly ever left his cave when he was a child.

If this kind of child had been born in anyone else’s home, they would definitely have been abandoned, but Zhou’s mother was different and had always raised Zhou well.

Zhou’s mother was very strong. Nearly a third of the people in their tribe would awaken some sort of bear form or another, and a third of those who had done so would have relatively high fighting power after awakening. Zhou’s mother had been like that.

Mother bears who were raising children were not to be trifled with, and Zhou’s mother was not easy to push around. She had always taken care of Zhou, and even if Zhou never managed to learn how to hunt and basically didn’t know how to communicate with others, she had never let Zhou go hungry.

Until her death.

Two months ago, Zhou’s mother had gone out hunting alone and never came back.

Everyone knew that his mother must have died outside.

During the first few days, the people in the tribe who had a good relationship with Zhou’s mother would still go and visit Zhou, but gradually, people stopped caring about him—people from the tribe died every year, and nobody stayed immersed in pain over their deaths.

Then... Zhou almost starved to death.

He had probably been too dumb and hadn’t even come out to obtain his share of food whenever it was distributed amongst the tribe. Meanwhile, everyone else had believed that his mother had stockpiled food for him inside their home, and had never thought to worry about him.

Xiong Ye thought to this point and sighed.

A month and a half ago, when he came here to look for Shi Li, he noticed Zhou climbing out of the cave where he was staying. Only then had he discovered that Zhou had actually almost starved to death.

He had given Zhou some food back then, and Zhou had lived on. Perhaps because he had walked along the line of life and death, Zhou changed a lot and was finally willing to come out of his cave.

But Zhou had not awakened any animal form despite having already reached adulthood. He also couldn’t be trained... It would be harmful for him to join in on the hunts, and he could only follow the gathering team and forage nearby.

Everyone in the gathering team was either elderly, a child, or a disabled member of the tribe. Zhou was the only youth there who had fully functioning arms and legs, but even so, rumors said that when Zhou went out to forage, he was often distracted, and he collected even less than some of the children.

Perhaps Zhou’s brain wasn’t whole yet.

“Zhou!” Xiong Ye called out.

“Ah?” Zhou turned towards Xiong Ye. His skin was pale, and the hides he was wearing were clean.

Xiong Ye ripped a foreleg off his half of the Lesothosaurus and gave it to Zhou, then patted Zhou on the shoulder, “Eat a bit more and exercise well so that you can strive to join the hunting team!” Since Zhou was like this... when the tribe divided up food for him, his portion would be the same as what the elderly and children obtained. How could such a small amount be enough for a mature youth to eat? Zhou must be going hungry every day.

Xiong Ye had starved once as a child, watching with wide eyes as Zhou’s mother had given him something to eat after bringing back prey of her own, so he didn’t mind giving Zhou a bit of his catch.

Xiong Ye finished talking and left.

Zhou looked at his retreating figure, then looked at the foreleg, and his brows wrinkled slightly.

At that moment, a twelve or thirteen-year-old boy suddenly ran out from the side and reached out to snatch the foreleg.

Seeing that this foreleg was about to be snatched away by the boy, Zhou suddenly reached out his hand, picked up the foreleg before the child could, and quickly hurried back to his cave, closing the door behind him.

“Bah!” The boy spat at Zhou’s door, then ran into the cave beside it, which was where Yang Ying lived.

By this time, Xiong Ye had arrived at a cave in the north side of the valley. The fire in this cave burned all year round.

The cave he lived in was very basic, and there was no fire in it, so whenever he caught prey, he would always come to the cave where the tribe kept their fire in order to roast his meat.

After giving more than half of the Lesothosaurus to Yang Ying and splitting a bit of the remainder with Zhou, there was only 3-4kg left of the original 15kg dinosaur. Xiong Ye roasted it over the fire for a bit, then gnawed and ate the bones along with the meat.

While Xiong Ye was eating meat, Shi Li had arrived at a mountain top near the tribe and turned back into his human form.

He found leaves to wrap around his waist, then looked down and felt that his appearance was a little disgraceful.

He currently didn’t even have a single piece of clothing. He could only wrap a leather skirt around himself!

But at the same time, Shi Li was also a little blank.

He ran around, then carefully looked over this mountain top that had been blurred by time in his memories several times, then bit his arm again before finally determining one thing—he had traveled back in time by a hundred years.

His road had been strenuous and difficult, but he had finally become the Beast King and gradually aged from his prime towards old age. When he thought he was about to die and would return to the embrace of Mother Earth, he had instead discovered that he once again had a youthful body and had returned to the time of his youth...

Emerging from his confusion, Shi Li became speechless with happiness. He finally raised his head to the sky and roared loud and long, startling the birds who were nested in the trees nearby. One of the birds flew by in a panic and sprinkled a round of bird droppings on his head.

Shi Li was furious and reached out to crush the bird to death, but the bird had already flown away...

Based on the strength he had prior to his death, seizing and crushing a bird like that would be an incredibly simple matter, but now, he had no such ability at all.

The him from this time period was not the powerful Beast King, but an ordinary person who had awakened a pretty good animal form.

Shi Li’s thoughts suddenly cleared up, and he looked down the mountain.

The Beast God had blessed him and given him the opportunity to start over. What should he do?

After just one round of running, Shi Li had basically figured out where on the timeline he was—he had reached adulthood not long ago and hadn’t mated with Xiong Ye yet.

In his previous life, after he and Xiong Ye became mates, several powerful dinosaurs had come near the tribe. The current chief, Xiong Ye’s uncle, had died in the battle against those dinosaurs, and Xiong Ye had become the chief of the tribe.

Later, their tribe was attacked by other tribes, and they were driven out of the valley. He and Xiong Ye had led the remaining survivors from their tribe and had begun their life of nomadic wandering.

That period of wandering had been very arduous, and it was not until he and Xiong Ye had accidentally discovered a set of cultivation methods hidden in a cave that they finally saw some hope.

He and Xiong Ye cultivated and fought as they travelled, getting stronger and stronger, until they finally became Beast Kings together.

They had only been in their fifties.

Later, after being crowned by the High Priest of the Beast God Temple, they were given a vast stretch of forest in which their clan could thrive happily, and the other tribes who lived in the forest had to pay tribute to them.

In his youth, that kind of life had been beyond his imagination.

By the time of his death, he had already been a Beast King for fifty years, but he hadn’t been happy. In the final reckoning, the reason for that was all because of Xiong Ye.

When he was a child, he had almost starved to death. It was Xiong Ye who had saved him, and it had been Xiong Ye who had asked the tribe to let him, his mother, and his younger brother who had been wandering around aimlessly take shelter with the tribe.

Afterwards, Xiong Ye continued to help him a lot, so he and Xiong Ye became mates with the Beast God as a witness.

They would always be tied together.

Therefore, even though he became the Beast King, he was unlike the other Beast Kings who were surrounded by many beauties, and he couldn’t even have children of his own.

It wasn’t until later, after Xiong Ye’s death, that he finally lived the life he wanted to live. But by then, he had already been old, and his strength did not match up to his expectations...

In this life...

Shi Li took a deep breath.

He didn’t want to be tied to Xiong Ye anymore.

This tribe knew nothing about the outside world, but he knew how vast and boundless the sky was outside, and he also knew how to become stronger.

He would become the strongest!

In addition, he also wanted to try everything he hadn’t had a chance to try before, and wanted to have a few children of his own.

Shi Li thought about it a lot, and his stomach rumbled.

It had been a long time since he’d ever felt hungry... Shi Li turned into his animal form and ran towards his cave.

Although everything in front of him was already very strange and new, he could still remember his own scent and was able to find his own place.

Very quickly, Shi Li reached his own cave and let out a deep lion roar, immediately squeezing in as soon as Yang Ying opened the door.

Yang Ying was a little dissatisfied, “Why did you turn into a lion? Little Su will be scared.”

Shi Li kept his back to Yang Ying as he changed back into his human form and quickly got dressed.

Yang Ying continued, “Xiong Ye came by just now. He’s too stingy. It was such a small Lesothosaurus, and he unexpectedly only gave me half. There are three of us, while there’s just one of him.”

Shi Li frowned in annoyance. In fact, he couldn’t remember his own mother very clearly anymore.

In his previous life, his mother had died when their tribe was attacked by other tribes, and he had missed her very much over the years. Yet now, when he saw that the other party was so concerned about such a tiny little Lesothosaurus, he felt a bit ashamed.

It had been many years since he’d eaten something like this!

“Elder brother, I saw Xiong Ye giving Zhou meat! Is he going to do something that’ll disrespect you?!” At this point, Shi Li’s younger brother, Yang Su, also spoke up.

Yang Su was thirteen years old and had already awakened.

What kind of animal a person would awaken was related to their own physical condition, the animal form their parents had taken, and the animal forms of the people around them, as well as what they had eaten prior to their awakening.

The powerful people that Shi Li met later on would try to feed their children dinosaur meat filled with powerful energy while they were still young in order to ensure that they would awaken into powerful animals.

He had been able to awaken as a lion because prior to him, his younger brother, and his mother leaving their previous tribe, they had lived a good life, and his family had always had enough to eat.

However, it was different for his younger brother. His younger brother had often gone hungry during the years before he had awakened. He hadn’t been able to eat dinosaurs more than a few times a year, and so he had finally awoken a very weak sheep form, like their mother.

In his previous life, Yang Su survived the tribal catastrophe and had always lived with him. Although he would occasionally bring him some trouble, the feelings between the two brothers had always been good.

In those years, Yang Su really liked to speak ill of Xiong Ye.

Shi Li knew that this was a bad habit of his and didn’t believe his words. He just spent a moment to recall who ‘Zhou’ was, and after he remembered, he said, “Yang Su, stop talking nonsense! Xiong Ye and Zhou have nothing to do with each other. You don’t need to worry about this!”

Shi Li actually had some impression of this person named Zhou.

He was nothing but a piece of waste in the tribe, but this waste not only had a mother who raised him to adulthood, he also had a particularly powerful father.

He remembered that in a few months, Zhou’s father would come to find Zhou, and Zhou would leave the tribe with his father.

At the time, he had been unable to express the envy he felt for Zhou, because Zhou’s father had been a Beast King with his own territory.

Of course, he no longer felt that envy now.

A few years after Zhou left with his father, his father, that powerful Beast King, died, and there was no more news regarding Zhou after that... Presumably, he had died without his father’s protection.

Shi Li didn’t take Zhou or even Zhou’s father seriously, but he also knew that he was still very weak right now and could not afford to become enemies with Zhou.

“You only know how to speak up for Xiong Ye!” Yang Su spoke unhappily.

Yang Ying also spoke up, “You’re looking down on us for having no ability, and don’t want to take care of us now that you have a promising future, right?”

Shi Li was a little annoyed, “You guys should relax. I won’t leave you.”

Yang Ying was relieved after she heard Shi Li’s words, “Li, we can only rely on you... You can’t leave us behind.”

Shi Li nodded. This was his mother and younger brother; of course he wouldn’t leave them behind.

In this life, he must not let his mother die early... It hadn’t been easy on her either. He’ll definitely let her live a good life!

While Shi Li was thinking this, he noticed the Lesothosaurus half that Yang Ying had cooked.

Yang Ying’s cooking skills were poor, and looking at her meals made people lose their appetite, but he was really hungry at the moment.

Shi Li ate the Lesothosaurus in a few bites, then said, “I’m going to sleep. Don’t make any noise and wake me up.” He wanted to start cultivating earlier!

Yang Ying and Yang Su nodded one after the other.

xiin: i realized that shi li never washed the bird poop off his head before he went to sleep

juu: ... yeah that’s pretty gross

Ch3 – Zhou Ji

Xiong Ye’s father was the former tribal chief and was once the strongest man in the tribe. Unfortunately, this man, who had awakened as a brown bear just like Xiong Ye, had died when Xiong Ye was just five years old.

After giving birth to him, Xiong Ye’s mother continued on to have five more children with different people. Four of them survived, and although his mother was very strong, she couldn’t always look after Xiong Ye. So after Xiong Ye awakened his animal form when he was ten, he took the initiative to move out of his mother’s cave and lived in the big communal cave with the other children who had left their parents, the elderly, and the disabled who couldn’t hunt.

These children, elderly, and disabled could obtain the most basic food allocation from the tribe, and at the same time, were required to do some basic gathering work or other chores.

For example, during this season, there were very few plants that could be collected, so they went to gather firewood or other things from areas nearby.

They didn’t have to do too much work, and when they were free, the elderly and the disabled would generally lay down in the valley or in the cave to conserve their physical strength. Some of the children would also do the same, but Xiong Ye was different.

Although his father died relatively early, he still remembered when his father used to take him out hunting. Back then, he had thought that when he grew up, he would become as powerful as his father, become the tribal chief, and make it so that the people of the tribe didn’t have to go hungry.

Since he wanted to become the tribal chief, he certainly couldn’t act like everyone else and do nothing simply because he was hungry – his father had instructed him to eat more and exercise more!

People in the tribe were very friendly towards the children. The elderly weren’t stingy about teaching and sharing their experience with them, and before Xiong Ye turned ten, he liked to ask them about what it was like outside. He learned how to fish, how to set traps, and even learned what kind of insects were edible. After he turned ten, he tried even harder to find a way to learn from them whenever he had a chance.

He even had the cheek to shamelessly help Grandpa Priest with his work in exchange for food.

The food distributed by the tribe would ensure that they didn’t starve to death and would grow up, but it was impossible for them to eat well. However, Xiong Ye knew how to get around and could always feed himself well. Later, he met Shi Li. The two of them clicked instantly and began to scavenge for food everywhere together.

It was because of this that he had already become one of the most powerful warriors in the tribe right after reaching adulthood – just having a strong beast form didn’t necessarily mean he would become a powerful warrior!

After eating the lesser half of the Lesothosaurus, Xiong Ye returned to his cave where there was a lot of wood piled up at the entrance.

His cave was very empty. There was nothing inside except for a stone bowl and stone axe that he had made himself.

Before winter last year, he had stored a lot of food and hay in the cave, but after winter had passed, the food was all gone, and the hay had become dirty.

He had just thrown the hay away the other day, and now the cave seemed particularly desolate.

He planned to marry Shi Li and become a mate. Shi Li’s cave would be given to Shi Li’s mother and younger brother to live in, and he would definitely move in here. In that case, this cave was really a bit shabby.

Xiong Ye looked at the pile of wood that was lying in the sun by the entrance, then brought some of it into the cave before turning into animal form so he could strip the bark off with his claws.

The bark he peeled off was piled up in the corner since it could be used for the fire in the future. The remaining tree trunks were then laid down in the innermost part of the cave.

The cave was too cold and sleeping on the bare ground wasn’t comfortable at all. They would normally lay something on the ground and sleep on top of it.

He used to sleep alone, so it was enough to casually lay down some hay, but there would be two of them in the future... Xiong Ye felt that he should be a little more particular, so he set up a layer of wood according to Grandpa Hou’s instructions and created a nest – in the future, when they added a mat made of hay and dinosaur leather on top, it would become very comfortable to sleep on.

Additionally, he could use wood to make some tables and stools... He could go and get some more wood tonight.

After Xiong Ye laid out seven or eight pieces of wood, he heard his uncle’s voice calling from outside, “Distributing meat!”

Upon hearing this call, he snatched up the stone bowl lying in the corner and practically flew outside. The rest of the tribe reacted just as quickly as he did.

This was a habit they had developed from childhood – no matter how busy they were, they couldn’t miss meals!

Every day, the happiest time for everyone was when it was time to eat.

The hunting team had a bountiful harvest today and everyone could obtain a big piece of meat. As the chief of the tribe, Xiong Ye’s uncle, Xiong He, was responsible for dividing up the meat.

First, he cut off a piece of the liver and a piece of the most tender part of the meat, and sent it to the priest. Then, he divided the rest of the meat among the tribe.

The elderly and the children consciously made their way so that the hunting team could go up and collect their meat first.

The hunting team, men and women alike, would be given more meat. Those who had made large contributions would receive additional rewards for their efforts. When it was Xiong Ye’s turn, Xiong He not only gave him a large piece of raw meat, he also gave him a portion of the Struthiomimus’ heart.

Xiong Ye accepted it, then went to the bonfire and barbecued the meat for himself.

People came up beside him, one after another, and roasted their meat around the fire with him, but... Shi Li didn’t come.

Xiong Ye stood up and tried to look for him in the crowd.

Although Shi Li liked to sleep, he had never missed out on the division of meat before. Sometimes, he would even begin to eat the meat before it was cooked... Why wasn’t he here today?

However, he couldn’t find Shi Li, and could only spot Yang Ying and Yang Su.

Xiong Ye walked over and saw that Yang Ying and Yang Su were currently roasting meat. It was a very large piece of meat, and the two of them wouldn’t have received that much on their own, so it had to include Shi Li’s share... Xiong Ye asked, “Where’s Shi Li?”

Yang Ying glanced at Xiong Ye. Since there were outsiders present, he was very polite to Xiong Ye, “He’s sleeping. He had us come out and help him get his share of the food.”

Xiong Ye originally wanted to ask Shi Li to go with him to cut down some trees that night, but since Shi Li wanted to sleep and didn’t even come out to eat... He’ll just go by himself.

When the time comes, he can give Shi Li a surprise.

Xiong Ye returned to his spot by the fire and ate a quarter of his portion of meat, planning to bring the rest back to his cave.

He liked to store food. He had finished everything he’d stocked up over the winter, and in truth, he couldn’t get used to not having anything saved up... Tomorrow, he definitely needs to find a way to bring back a big one!

There were many people who were like Xiong Ye and saved up their share of the food. Some would only eat a fifth or less – the hunting team wouldn’t be going out to hunt tomorrow, so no meat would be shared amongst the tribe the next day.

Not to mention, there was bone soup to drink today.

They boiled the Struthiomimus bones with some wild vegetables to make soup. Although the taste wasn’t very good, people could still fill their bellies by drinking it!

But Xiong Ye didn’t go get soup–he didn’t like to eat grass.

Night had come, and the bonfire in the square had gone out. Xiong Ye took the remainder of the meat back to his cave and stored it away, then left the cave with his stone axe and headed towards the exit that led to the mountains.

The exit was covered by a door that was made out of wood and vines, and there was a cat crouched next to it.

The cat was a member of their tribe. It was Xiong Ye’s cousin, Mao Jin. She was only fourteen, and her animal form was very weak. But because she was very vigilant in her animal form, starting from a year ago, she had taken the initiative to guard the gate.

Xiong Ye felt that it was great for her to do so, since everyone should try to make themselves useful.

Upon seeing Xiong Ye, Mao Jin meowed, licked her paw, and lay down again.

Xiong Ye laughed, opened the door, and went out.

They generally wouldn’t destroy the trees in the forest near the tribe. Xiong Ye went further out, skillfully shuttling his way through the forest, and soon came to a stretch of woods far away from the tribe. He then began to chop down trees.

After cutting down a big tree and removing its branches and leaves, he was soon left with a thick chunk of wood. He then moved on and began to cut down the next tree.

Xiong Ye chopped down four trees in one go, then realized that he wouldn’t be able to carry any more and finally stopped.

“Do you need help?” A slightly stiff voice suddenly sounded out. Xiong Ye raised his head and saw someone standing under a tree in the distance. It was Zhou.

Zhou looked a little strange–not only was he wearing a piece of dinosaur leather around his waist, he also wore two pieces around his upper body, covering up his back and chest... In their tribe, generally speaking, only women who were worried that their breasts would impact their hunting, or those who found it too cold in winter, would do so.

Well, it was still quite cold now, and it was even chillier at night. Zhou probably hung those burdensome things on himself because he was freezing.

“Why are you here?” Xiong Ye was rather surprised.

Zhou: “Picking fruit.”

Only then did Xiong Ye notice that Zhou was holding a few fruits in his hands.

This type of fruit could be found amongst the grass. It wasn’t very big and was very sour, but it was very common and was plentiful all the way from spring up until autumn.

When he was young and hungry, he would often look for this kind of fruit to eat even though the tart taste made his teeth feel sour.

However, he didn’t eat it much after turning twelve. He only occasionally picked some for Shi Li–at the time, Shi Li and his family hadn’t yet joined the tribe, and his mother and younger brother always had nothing to eat.

This kind of fruit should only be available after the weather grows a bit warmer. Most of the plants were still only just flowering at the moment, and Xiong Ye didn’t know where Zhou had managed to find some.

Xiong Ye: “I don’t need your help.” Could Zhou’s small body even lift up a piece of wood?

Xiong Ye pulled down a section of vine and tied up the four pieces of wood, then removed the leather he’d wrapped around his lower body and turned into a brown bear.

His animal form was very big, and it took a lot of energy for him to change forms. He normally wouldn’t do this, but he wasn’t worried about it today because he had eaten his fill and there was more food stored up in his cave.

“Roar!” Xiong Ye called out to Zhou, intending to ask the other party to return together with him–he couldn’t speak while in his animal form, so he could only do this.

Only, he didn’t know what Zhou was looking at; he had turned his head away and didn’t turn his head back until he heard Xiong Ye’s roar.

Xiong Ye signaled for the other party to follow him then led the way, deliberately slowing down his speed.

He was afraid that Zhou wouldn’t be able to keep up.

One of the two moons in the sky hung in the west, while the other was in the east. They shed a minimal amount of light, but it was enough for Xiong Ye to find his way. Occasionally, he could even spot something running from far away.

Those should be small-sized bird-footed dinosaurs. Unfortunately, his movements were too big, and those little dinosaurs had already run away before he could get close...

Xiong Ye felt that it was a bit of a pity, but he soon calmed down.

It was already the middle of the night, and it wasn’t a suitable time to hunt.

Xiong Ye walked on and unconsciously picked up the pace, but Zhou unexpectedly remained behind him and didn’t fall behind.

Xiong Ye turned his head and gave Zhou a glance.

Although this person never awakened an animal form, his physical strength wasn’t bad. That made sense. When Zhou’s mother was still alive, she had never wronged Zhou when it came to food.

He had been able to eat well and drink well every day, so Zhou’s health certainly couldn’t be too bad.

Although ordinary people like Zhou couldn’t do very many things, it wasn’t as though they couldn’t participate in the hunts. Xiong Ye felt that after they returned, he should urge Zhou to exercise properly.

He wanted to be the chief of the tribe, and the chief should be responsible for everyone in the clan!

Very quickly, the two of them, one in front and one behind, arrived back at the tribe.

Xiong Ye put down the wood, changed back to his human form, and put his clothes back on. He said to Zhou, “It’s really amazing that you followed behind me for so long without falling behind. In the future, you should exercise properly. You can definitely join the hunting party. When that day comes, you’ll be able to eat meat every day!”

The way Xiong Ye saw it, eating grass was definitely something that was hard to bear. Some people liked to gnaw on a few mouthfuls of grass when they were in animal form, but they would still be devoted to eating meat when they resumed their human form.

But right now, Zhou... probably wasn’t given very much meat.

Zhou, who had turned his back towards Xiong Ye at some point, turned back and looked at Xiong Ye, “My name is Zhou Ji.”

Xiong Ye looked at Zhou Ji in amazement, “You’ve awakened? What kind of animal is ‘Ji’? How come you aren’t called Ji Zhou?”

Zhou Ji: “...”

The author has something to say:

Zhou Ji: Can’t these primitive people give some warning before taking off their skirts?

The beastmen in the story all awaken mammal forms. Otherwise, Xiong Ye would definitely ask, “Zhou Ji? Did you awaken as a chicken?”