Chapter 230

Heishan Tribe – Dormitory Area.

It was past four in the afternoon, twilight already, and most of the workers of the Heishan Tribe had finished their shifts. In small groups of twos and threes, they sat around campfires at the entrances to the dormitories.

Some were still chiseling stone. Any stone bricks produced after the day’s work would be counted as extra credit, so until midnight, you could always find many beastmen busy—whether in the dormitory area, at the threshing ground, or on the open ground outside the threshing ground.

The reason no one worked after midnight wasn’t for lack of desire, but because the Heishan Tribe had a curfew.

That rule had been set by Qi Bai.

Qi Bai had expected everyone to be motivated, but he had not expected workers to throw themselves into labor literally day and night, just to earn a chance to join the Heishan Tribe.

Yes, beastmen were stronger than any Blue Star human Qi Bai had ever seen—but even they couldn’t keep going endlessly without rest.

And there was another reason: the sound of stone chiseling was far too loud. Not everyone was working; if some stayed up hammering all night, then nobody could sleep.

So Qi Bai issued a hard rule: every night around the 11th hour, the curfew began. Until six the next morning, no one was allowed to work outside.

To enforce this, patrol teams would walk the grounds with torches at nightfall. Workers, seeing them, would tidy up quickly and head back to their dorms.

But before returning to the dorms, there was one thing no one ever forgot: carrying a big bamboo bowl to the water-house to drink a steaming-hot bowl of bone soup.

The water-house was run by three elder beastmen—Xiang Yu, Quan Lie, and Lang Ye—plus four older workers recently recruited.

Every evening, Xiang Yu and the others would hand them chunks of bone to simmer in clay pots. With just those bones, water was constantly added, enough for nearly a thousand workers in the dormitory area to each get one or two bowls.

Honestly, by the end, the soup hardly tasted of bone at all—Qi Bai had seen it himself. At best, it looked like plain water, barely a trace of oil floating on top.

But the workers swore otherwise. “There’s meat flavor in it!” they insisted. So long as they could see bones in the pot, they were satisfied.

Beyond the stone chiseling, many beastmen at the dorm entrances fumbled with bone needles to sew hide garments, or split bamboo for baskets and mats.

Every horned beastman worker who had fought in the battle against Sanghuo had been rewarded with one hide. A few who performed exceptionally received two.

The sub-beastmen who hadn’t fought directly but had worked hard caring for the wounded also received half a hide each.

These hides were spoils—Sanghuo tents taken from the valley.

As tent leather, they were coarse and low-quality, most already bald of fur, some filthy.

But not a single worker complained.

At least two-thirds of them had once been slaves. Many hadn’t touched a piece of hide in years.

Now, carts of hides were piled in the threshing yard. Record keepers called names one by one. Workers returned to their dorms carrying hides, hearts pounding with excitement.

And just earlier, the priest had promised: Work well, and more hides will be distributed in the future.

This, too, was why they wanted so badly to join the Heishan Tribe. They had come to believe: when Heishan promised, they kept their word.

With hides in hand, squad leaders taught sewing in their spare time. Not everyone learned quickly, but many still mended away at their pieces.

The joy on the workers’ faces said it all. Even if not yet official Heishan members, they already treated the tribe as their home.

Gone were the fear and confusion of their arrival, gone the emptiness of hopeless lives. Now their eyes were bright and alive.

They had worried: with winter deepening, especially once snow fell, would there be no work, no food, only hunger?

But they soon realized their fears were needless. Heishan’s winters were busier than other tribes’ springs—there was always work.

When mud bricks couldn’t be made after snowfall, squad leaders simply switched them to bamboo baskets and mats.

For these workers, life was simple: clock in, clock out, eat, sleep. Never before had their days been so full.

While the workers ended their shifts, Qi Bai could not yet.

He rubbed his hands for warmth, then walked to the open-air warehouse by the threshing ground, joining Diao Lan, She Li, and the tribe’s chief accountant, Yang Luo, to tally the stone bricks produced these past days.

Under Qi Bai’s influence, Diao Lan and She Li now also carried bamboo slips and charcoal pens, jotting notes whenever needed. Their reports were clearer than others’.

As they walked, She Li said, “The hunting team has been gone sixty days. In that time, the workers made enough stone bricks to build a hundred dormitory houses.”

Even She Li was stunned. When the workers had first arrived, it had taken twenty days to gather bricks for twenty houses. Now, without Heishan warriors’ help, in sixty days they had produced enough for a hundred. Efficiency had nearly doubled.

Yang Luo smiled, nodding. “Not bad. Keep it up.”

Diao Lan added, “But the mud bricks are short—enough for only seventy or eighty kang stoves.”

Seeing Yang Luo frown, he explained: “We made plenty before. But with the snow lately, there’s been no place to dry them.”

So many sub-beastmen had turned to chiseling stone instead. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many bricks.

Yang Luo looked up at the sky. “Let’s hope it doesn’t snow again.”

Qi Bai only shook his head. Better a little loss in bricks than the risk of drought. After a year of dryness, what would spring bring?

The bricks were laid in neat rows across the ground for easy counting, covering vast space like a stone-paved plaza.

Only here, on the beast continent, could they store things this way. On Blue Star, the land rental alone would be crippling.

Looking over the piles, Qi Bai drifted in thought.

Sixty days. Lang Ze had been gone two full months. Nearly the time they’d agreed upon. Where was he now?

Just then, from halfway up the mountain—

“Woooo~ Woooo~ Woooo~ Woooo~”

The sound of horns.

Qi Bai’s head snapped up. Diao Lan, She Li, and the others fell silent.

“Beast God above—it’s the hunting party!” Yang Luo cried.

But Qi Bai and She Li were already sprinting full-speed before the words finished.

Diao Lan bent down to pick up the bamboo slips they dropped, chuckling. “So young. They look steady on the surface, but after being apart from their mates so long… of course they can’t wait.”

Yang Luo tucked his bear-bone staff under his arm and dashed after. Mates or not, he thought, I want to see the spoils!

Clouds like white cotton balls floated in a sky painted golden by dusk.

Across the snowy wilderness, a pale-gray figure bounded forward against the light.

Just that sight softened the White Wolf’s heart. Already at the head of the returning party, he suddenly quickened his pace—toward the mate he longed for.

“Lang Ze!” Qi Bai cried, flinging his arms around the giant wolf’s head.

“Lang Ze, I missed you so much!” He buried his face in Lang Ze’s fur, heart pounding from the run—and from joy.

If you listened closely, his voice even caught a little.

All the weeks Lang Ze was gone, Qi Bai had worried, even prepared to rush into Beihuang himself—but he hadn’t once wept.

Now, seeing Lang Ze return safe—and more commanding than when he left—Qi Bai could no longer restrain himself.

“Awwooo~ Awwooo~”

Lang Ze hadn’t expected to be greeted like this. At once, all weariness vanished. His great tail swished, and he carefully nuzzled Qi Bai’s head.

“Neighhh~”

As they embraced, a black stallion galloped past, dragging a cart at its breaking point.

“Crack.”

Planks snapped, pieces tumbling.

Qi Bai sniffled and glanced back. Behind Ma Ling stretched a trail of beast meat scattered like a bloody path.

But then Ma Ling too collided with his mate—not tender like Qi Bai and Lang Ze. She Li slapped him hard for the waste. Yet Ma Ling’s wagging tail made it clear: he enjoyed it.

Qi Bai tugged Lang Ze’s fur. “I came with She Li. I ran as hard as I could to beat her here—you were the first welcomed back.”

He looked up like a child demanding praise. Lang Ze’s heart filled to the brim.

Unable to resist, he shifted into human form, pulling his sub-beastman into his arms, dry lips pressing against Qi Bai’s.

“Rumble—” another cart collapsed in the snowstorm.

But neither spared it a glance. Amid the falling snow, they kissed without care.

“Moo~”

Xi Zhou, the single rhino, trudged by. So this is what having a mate is like…

“Awwooo~”

Next passed Lang Ji, the single grey wolf. No wonder the boss groomed himself before arrival—he was ready to kiss the moment he came back!

One by one, beastmen passed, each making teasing sounds.

Even Qi Bai, bold as he’d been, flushed and bit Lang Ze’s tongue hard.

Qi Bai’s hood hung back, gray fur brushing his pale neck in the wind. Lang Ze’s gaze fixed there, burning.

Qi Bai glared. He always pretends cold and aloof, but then looks at me like that… what a rogue!

Lang Ze only smiled, hugging his little puffball close. His chest vibrated, and Qi Bai heard him whisper:

“I’m back.”

“Bao Bai! Bao Bai!”

As they walked into camp, Yang Luo’s shout rang out, calling Qi Bai’s name.

“Here!” Qi Bai answered loudly. He knew why Yang Luo was so excited—the spoils were greater than any of them had imagined.

“I’ll go first. You put on a hide coat quickly,” Qi Bai urged Lang Ze.

Everyone had come out. With all eyes on Lang Ze, Qi Bai grew possessive—he didn’t want anyone else seeing his body.

“Mm.” Lang Ze agreed, though his gaze never left Qi Bai.

Yang Luo, face glowing red, grabbed Qi Bai’s arm. “I’m not dreaming, right? Bao Bai, look—there’s really this much meat?”

Qi Bai’s eyes widened.

Ten wagons. Twenty. Thirty.

Sixty wagons of meat.

And twenty-two more piled with hides and goods.

And behind those, forty-five wagons of slaves.

The first eight held sub-beastmen. Warriors carefully lowered their wicker baskets, and one after another, beast-forms crawled out, filling the snowfield.

Behind them, horned beastmen stood barefoot in the snow, lined up respectfully.

When they left Sanghuo, those horned beastmen had no such privilege. They hauled goods themselves in beast form, slowing the journey so much that what took fifteen days out became thirty-plus on the return.

Only after crossing Xishui and unloading the other tribes’ share did they finally sit in carts.

Now they stood fearful, knowing they had delayed the march.

It was then that Hou Yan finally arrived.

As chieftain of Heishan, he rarely acted alone. But today he proclaimed boldly:

“Workers’ rations double today!”

And then, with a shout:

“Heishan tribesmen!”

“Here!” “Here!” “Here!”

Their thunderous cry shook the heavens.

Hou Yan roared with excitement:

“Tonight, everyone—no dining hall! We feast in the tribe!”