SGSHE74

Only when a whole piece of meat is roasted until it’s inedible, completely charred black, does it truly count as burnt.

The young sub-beastmen felt shocked. After all, back in the tribe, even 10 year old cubs knew how to roast meat.

To think that AGuang, a young beastman who ate roasted meat every day, actually didn’t know how to prepare it himself!

Clearly, the young sub-beastman hadn’t considered that the mighty AGuang, the one he admired, lacked such basic everyday life skills.

He racked his brain, but couldn’t recall a single instance of AGuang roasting meat. In his memory, the young beastman always ate the communal meals prepared by the tribe.

Blinking, the young sub-beastman offered a sheepish excuse for him: “AGuang probably just rarely does it. I’m sure he’d get the hang of it if he did it more often.”

AXing added, “I asked him to wash his animal-hide bedding once, but he was too lazy to move. He’s been sleeping with me lately.”

The young sub-beastman was speechless…

That was just too lazy!

The thought of potentially ending up with the young beastman and having to sleep under unwashed animal-hide bedding filled him with despair.

He couldn’t accept that, so he decided to give up on the idea.

He nodded dejectedly. “Thanks, brother Xing. I understand now. Brother Xing, please don’t tell AGuang what I asked you tonight, okay?”

AXing smiled. “Your secret is safe with me.” I promise not to tell him.

Relieved of his burden, the young sub-beastman walked away with light steps.

The white tiger, who had witnessed the whole scene, felt a complex mix of emotions.

His two beastmen friends had indeed gotten together behind his back!

AGuang had grumpily claimed brother Xing was about to find a mate, while brother Xing was busy turning down the young sub-beastmen who liked AGuang.

Wait a minute. How come both of them had sub-beastmen interested in them, but he, ABai, didn’t?

The beast god was being so unfair to him!

***

While the white tiger wallowed in self-pity, the Maltese tiger returned to Jing Heguang, wearing the flower wreath. Jing Heguang had lost all interest in dancing. Someone had actually tried to poach his partner right in front of his face, who knew how many others might be trying to do the same behind his back?

AXing had lost interest too. His little cub had changed a lot and was attracting the attention of others. If they kept dancing, wouldn’t even more people notice him?

Thus, the two of them were of one mind and decided to go back to sleep, using the excuse that they were a bit tired.

Back in their cave, they lay down and pretended to be asleep, but as they held each other, they actually drifted off quite quickly.

The white tiger, who returned to the bonfire gathering later and heard that the pair had gone to bed early, was left speechless…

He silently reminded himself: Don’t go looking for those two beastmen at night anymore, it’s inconvenient.

***

Early the next morning, Jing Heguang got up early morning.

He prepared some roasted meat and soup, ate quickly, and then rushed off to see the shaman.

The Maltese tiger, the designated successor for the patriarch, watched the little cub run off. With the leadership transition approaching, there were many tribe matters he needed to familiarize himself with.

The Maltese tiger had assumed this time was an exception, after all, AGuang relied on him heavily and insisted on cuddling him while sleeping.

AXing believed it wouldn’t be long before his little cub finally ‘enlightened’ about romance.

However, over the next few days, AXing noticed things taking a strange turn.

Why was the little cub running off to see the white tiger every day, and why were the two of them going out hunting together? Sure, AXing was busy, but not so busy that he couldn’t spare any time!

Jing Heguang, for his part, was genuinely busy.

He needed to consult the shaman about the necklace and the bonding ritual, and prepare the best materials. At the same time, he had to go hunting without AXing knowing, specifically searching for prey with the largest teeth. Since he wasn’t experienced in hunting, he had enlisted the white tiger’s help.

The White Tiger felt utterly weary. Even though he received plenty of meat from A-Guang in return, he wasn’t happy.

How could he be happy, being a lone tiger, while watching others bustle about preparing for a bonding ritual? Moreover, tagging along with the young beastman, the white tiger felt his hunting skills rapidly deteriorating.

After all, when they went hunting, no real technique was required…

The process usually went like this: Spot a huge beast.

Jing Heguang: “That one has big enough teeth!”

Approach, grow to giant size, stomp.

Spot another huge beast.

Jing Heguang: “Those teeth look even bigger than the last one’s! Let’s take this one back too, shall we?”

So, approach, grow to giant size, stomp.

There wasn’t any prey that couldn’t be solved with a single stomp. If one didn’t land right, two certainly would.

All the meat went to the white tiger, all ABai had to do was lead the way.

The white tiger: His life as a beast lately had become just that, monotonous and dull.

Jing Heguang hunted for ten days before finally catching a giant teeth beast, securing what was said to be the largest teeth in the entire beastmen world!

Jing Heguang thought: With a teeth this big, surely that’s enough to prove his strength and show how he feels?

Having secured the teeth and finished the necklace, he immediately headed to Hot Valley to raid the beastmen world’s supply of yueyue flowers.

Hot Valley was an area of ​​hot springs where the temperature remained consistently high. Presumably, this was why the flowers stayed in bloom for such a long time.

Jing Heguang stripped one patch of flowers bare and uprooted another before finally gathering them all up in his arms.

On the way back, he had the white tiger keep watch to ensure they didn’t run into any other beastmen and let the secret slip.

Jing Heguang carried the flowers back to the cave and arranged them with great care.

Then, gazing at the bed where the pink yueyue flowers had been laid out in the shape of a heart, he vowed to himself: This is going to be a huge surprise!

***

Meanwhile, Lan Mo Hu—who had spent the day learning from the clan leader—was in a terrible mood.

Because today, that little cub had dragged the White Tiger out again. If White Tiger hadn’t been making overtures to a sub-beastman just yesterday, he might have suspected the cub was getting romantically involved with him.

Regardless of the reason, however, he was displeased that the cub and the white tiger had left him behind while growing closer to each other.

So, after finishing his work for the day, AXing didn’t head straight back to his cave, instead, he went to find the white tiger.

Seeing the white tiger busy curing meat, AXing knocked on the door panel: “ABai, it’s me.”

The white tiger looked puzzled: “Brother Xing? Why haven’t you gone back yet?” Your little beastman is waiting for you!

AXing struck up a conversation with the white tiger: “Is all this meat what AGuang is paying back?”

Could the cub be paying off a debt lately? AXing wondered, feeling much better at the thought.

ABai nodded: “It’s all wild beasts that AGuang hunted. He specifically picks out the biggest ones, so the pile of meat accumulates pretty fast!”

Having said that, ABai looked at the maltese tiger: “Brother Xing, I’m still busy here, so I won’t be able to entertain you!”

The white tiger really didn’t want to talk with one of them about the other anymore.

Being a single tiger is hard enough as it is, you know?!

***

It was the first time AXing had ever been shooed away, so he felt a bit unaccustomed to it.

But since food was crucial to beastmen, AXing left without a fuss.

Of course, this was directly related to the fact that he had already resolved his question about why the cub kept visiting the white tiger.

With that doubt cleared up, there was no need to watch the white tiger cure meat. Wouldn’t it be better to spend that time back home with the cub?

In a good mood, AXing arrived at the entrance of his cave, only to find the door panel left slightly ajar. He called out, “Are you there? AGuang.”

Inside, Jing Heguang sprang up. Adjusting his animal-hide tunic as he went, he ran toward the entrance. “Brother Xing, I’m here!”

As the door to the cave opened, Jing Heguang stepped in to block AXing’s view, flashed a smile, and then reached up to cover the other’s eyes.

AXing was taken aback. “What is it? Why are you covering my eyes?”

Jing Heguang said mysteriously, “I have something for you! But I can’t let you see it just yet.”

AXing didn’t say a word, but his nose had already told him the truth. There was the scent of yueyue flowers in the room, the same fragrance as the flower wreath the young cub had liked so much last time.

Could the cub be planning to give him yueyue flowers?

Romantic gestures weren’t really the norm among beastmen.

The tiger tribe, in particular, was a practical lot, they focused on working and hunting, simply offering the best of what they had to the beastmen or sub-beastmen they fancied.

Catching the scent of the yueyue flowers came as a pleasant surprise. The cub had put real thought into this. The gift was unlike anything other beastmen gave!

Jing Heguang led him over to the bed. AXing playfully asked, “What is it? You really have to keep my eyes covered for this?”

Jing Heguang smiled and let go.

“Look!”

At the sound of Jing Heguang’s voice, AXing opened his eyes.

He saw that on the unoccupied bed, yueyue flowers had been arranged into the shape of the markings behind his ears.

And hanging between the two beds was a row of large teeth!

These were the kind of teeth every beastman longed to possess, truly the stuff of a beastman’s dreams!

Yet here they were, ‘trophy’ that most beastmen might never obtain even a single one of in a lifetime, hanging in a row right there on the wall of his cave. For a beastman, the visual impact was staggering!

AXing stared, unable to tear his eyes away. Gazing at the largest tooth, he exclaimed in astonishment, “That’s a tooth from the Megabeast, isn’t it?!”

Jing Heguang: …

No, that was a token of his love.

Jing Heguang felt his previous approach might have been too subtle, so he simply wrapped his arms around AXing’s waist from behind.

“Brother Xing, these are all for you! I like you! Will you form a bond with me?”

AXing was momentarily stunned.

Both beastmen and sub-beastmen understood the significance of gifting a hunting trophy’s tooth, and AXing was certainly no exception. He had kept a few meaningful teeth from his own hunts over the years.

But he hadn’t expected that, just as he was wondering when the young cub would finally catch on, the cub would suddenly present him with teeth!

So, that’s what the cub had been busy with all this time!

Gazing at the largest tooth, which was nearly half his own size, AXing felt his heart racing wildly.

His amazing young cub had brought the biggest tooth to confess his feelings!

AXing leaned back into the cub’s warm, broad embrace. “AGuang, I agree to form a bond with you.”

AXing had put a lot of effort into showing the cub his best qualities and had waited quite a while for this moment. Now that the cub had finally taken the bait, he certainly wasn’t going to push him away, so he naturally agreed immediately.

Successfully break away from singledom!!

Jing Heguang was so overjoyed he felt like rolling around in sheer excitement.

In his exuberance, he accidentally shifted into his beast form.

The result? Their home instantly burst apart.

Nearby beastmen and sub-beastmen were startled and rushed out to see what was happening.

The white tiger stared wide-eyed at his two friends’ collapsed den.

— All that just to present a token of bonding??

In caves further away, the group of newly arrived sub-beastmen heard the earth-shaking commotion and scrambled out in alarm.

Huang Hua, who had been lying in the cave recovering from an illness, wrapped himself in an animal skin and asked in a panic, “What happened? What’s going on?”

Having finally escaped the fear of being eaten, Huang Hua certainly didn’t want to spend his days in the tiger tribe living in constant anxiety either.

A nearby beastman glanced at him, figuring that more than ten days had passed, it was probably safe to talk about the tiger tribe’s amazing canine beastman.

The beastman said proudly, “That must be AGuang shifting into his beast form. His beast form is so huge, he definitely burst right through the cave!”

Huang Hua, hearing this news for the first time, was left dumbfounded: ???

He asked in shock, “Isn’t that AGuang just a lazy little beastman who loves to eat?”

The beastman scratched his head. “That was in the past. AGuang is the best hunter in the tribe now!”

Recalling the things he had once said to that young beastman, Huang Hua’s face flushed red, then turned pale.

Inside the collapsed cave…

Jing Heguang shielded AXing beneath his belly, feeling a bit dazed himself.

He had just successfully confessed his feelings, only to demolish their home the very next second.

It should…be fine, right?