SGSHE66

Jing Heguang nodded vigorously, tugged at the other’s animal-skin garment, and pointed a front paw toward the entrance.

They had to get to the scene quickly, before it was disturbed and the evidence lost!

The other beastmen were stunned.

“What’s the deal with the basket?!”

“AGuang is so lazy, he wouldn’t make a basket himself.”

“Bai Xiang gave it to him, AGuang was even showing it off yesterday!”

The fact that the basket could lure in the spiny behemoth meant someone was trying to get AXing and AGuang killed!

The beastmen were both worried and angry. However, being simple and straightforward by nature, they didn’t immediately connect the incident to the upcoming election for a new patriarch.

Only the shaman felt a jolt of alarm, immediately recalling how close the sub-beastman Bai Xiang was with the patriarch’s son, Huang Shi.

The Shaman spoke gravely, “Let’s gather more beastmen and go check the cornfield.”

***

A group of beastmen carried the injured pair outside, they were all robust and moved with great speed.

Soon, this group of tiger beastmen encountered another party, a team led by the patriarch himself.

Upon meeting, the patriarch was immediately informed about the basket incident.

When the name Bai Xiang was mentioned, the patriarch, like the shaman, cast a suspicious glance at his son, Huang Shi, who was in the group.

Huang Shi was a yellow-brown tiger, his beast form was incredibly sturdy, though his human form was somewhat short and stocky.

Noticing his father’s gaze, Huang Shi felt a moment of anxiety.

However, he quickly reassured himself, remembering that only he and Bai Xiang knew about the plant capable of attracting Spiny Behemoths. He then composed himself, feigning total innocence.

Lying in the arms of the maltese tiger, Jing Heguang bared his teeth at Huang Shi.

— It was this Huang Shi who wanted to kill his AXing. He would certainly make him pay!

After he had bared his teeth a couple of times, the maltese tiger, thinking the little cub’s teeth were itching, snapped a suitable branch from a nearby tree, stripped off the bark, and tucked it into Jing Heguang’s arms.

“AGuang,” AXing said, “bite on this.”

Jing Heguang: …At a loss for what to do.

I’ll just treat it like a toy, he thought. Clutching the branch, he gave it a tentative bite or two.

It was only halfway through gnawing that it belatedly dawned on him how silly he must look, acting just as restless as a puppy. The influence his physical form had on his behavior was immense.

***

Upon arriving at the location, the beastmen first went to inspect the carcasses of the spiny giant beasts, intending to carve off some edible meat to take back. Although the beasts were covered in spines, there was still meat to be found beneath them.

The first one they found was a beast that had been mauled to death. A massive gash had been torn into its neck by sharp claws, and the flesh there bore the unmistakable marks of teeth.

Yet, the beastmen felt neither fear nor revulsion. Instead, they happily set about butchering the carcass — after all, it was all meat!

Next, they went in search of the second spiny giant beast.

After walking a short distance, the white tiger leading the group was startled.

“Everyone, watch out!” ABai shouted a warning. “There’s a trail of huge footprints here!”

The beastmen looked over and saw a series of massive footprints stamped into the ground, leading all the way to the second spiny giant beast. An beastman speculated, “Could another beast have passed by, wanting to eat the dead Spiny Behemoth?”

“I’m certain another beast was here before us. First a Spiny Behemoth appeared nearby, and now a beast of that size…I’m afraid the year-end beast tide is going to be a rough one!”

A tiger beastman of average build remarked, “The footprints left by this latter beast are huge, you could fit someone my size lying down inside one of them!”

The shaman stepped forward to examine them and said, “Perhaps it’s a creature with unusually large feet? Like a multi-legged beast?”

Peeking out from the opening of the fur garment he was wrapped in, Jing Heguang looked at the footprints and felt the surrounding woods looked somewhat familiar.

Although his field of vision was unusually high when he was in his giant form, he could tell that those footprints looked like his own.

Jing Heguang made a couple of soft noises and spoke up eagerly: “Mine! Those are my footprints!” There was absolutely no need to worry, they were definitely his.

After calling out twice, Jing Heguang realized his throat felt much better, likely thanks to the milk-fruit he’d consumed earlier, and he could speak without difficulty.

Yet, the other beastmen just glanced at him and burst into laughter!

“AGuang, did you just wake up?”

“AGuang, don’t go making tall tales. Watch out or you’ll wet yourself tonight!”

The shaman also turned back with a gentle smile: “AGuang, don’t tell tall tales, you’ll set a bad example for the little cubs.”

Jing Heguang’s eyes went wide, and he was once again at a loss.

— Had he been hallucinating earlier? But it felt so real…surely not, right?!

Jing Heguang turned his head to look at the maltese tiger, seeking an answer.

AXing looked down at the soft, squishy little cub in his arms.

Who could have imagined that those massive footprints belonged to this tiny, cub-like beastman?

Honestly, none of the beastman would believe it. AXing couldn’t be bothered to say any more, he rubbed the little cub’s ears and asked, “Do you want to come up and play on my head?”

Jing Heguang: Was he really hallucinating?

Still, letting him get up high to take a look would be a good way to double-check.

“Yes.” Jing Heguang uttered the word in a daze and kicked his legs to scramble upward. AXing then hoisted him up onto the top of his head.

Jing Heguang was perched atop the other’s head, fearing he might fall, he hooked his paws around the beastman’s ears for stability.

AXing awkwardly extended a hand to support the little beastman’s body.

He had never imagined he would let someone climb onto his head to play.

Yet, today was different. Not only did he let AGuang play up there, but he was also worried the little one might be clumsy and tumble off!

With that supporting hand now beneath him, Jing Heguang finally felt at ease.

From his vantage point atop the head, he craned his neck to survey the space above. No matter how he looked at it, the surroundings resembled the forest he had seen back when he was in his larger, transformed state.

Jing Heguang gave it some thought and decided it didn’t really matter for now.

He would find out the truth the next time he transformed into a beastman himself!

Putting that thought aside, Jing Heguang turned his attention to A-Xing’s ears.

While the maltese tiger beast form featured a mix of black, white, and dark blue, the backs of his ears displayed only black and white.

Black formed the outer ring and white the inner, and the white patches on both sides actually looked just like little hearts!

It was simply too adorable!

Unable to resist, Jing Heguang secretly leaned in, he gently hooked one ear with his paw and planted a stealthy kiss right on it!

Just as Jing Heguang was stealing that kiss, the other beastmen arrived beside the second spiny behemoth.

The wounds on the spiny behemoths served as further proof of the existence of another massive beast, putting the beastmen on high alert.

After harvesting the meat from the two spiny behemoths, the shaman instructed the beastmen to fetch the basket. The patriarch, who had a pair of large ears, said, “That basket was a gift from Bai Xiang. Since Huang Shi is close with Bai Xiang, he shouldn’t go.”

A look of displeasure flashed in Huang Shi’s light brown eyes: “Fine, I won’t go then. But regarding that basket, it was actually A-Guang who kept pestering Bai Xiang. Bai Xiang only gave him one because he found him annoying.”

Jing Heguang, who had been fiddling with his ears, was left dumbfounded: Huh?

That statement was a total slander against the original owner of the body.

Bai Xiang was the best looking sub-beastman, he had a fair complexion and a natural, pleasant scent, hence the name Bai Xiang.

However, the fact that he got along with the original owner revealed one thing: Bai Xiang was just as lazy.

Bai Xiang would rather spend his days figuring out how to make himself smell even better than do any extra work, terrified that he might lose his looks.

It stood to reason that someone so lazy wouldn’t go out of their way to craft a basket specifically for the original owner.

Jing Heguang protested indignantly, “Bai Xiang is lazy, sure, but he only had two baskets, and he gave one to me himself! Usually, he just palms off fruit on me in exchange for my dried meat!”

That was true. The original owner was a real piece of work, he used to steal the maltese tiger dried meat to curry favor with other sub-beastmen. What a jerk!

After saying this, Jing Heguang suddenly remembered that the maltese tiger didn’t know about this particular incident.

Feeling a bit sheepish, he mentally berated the original owner and let go of the ears he had been clutching with his front paws.

A large hand gave his bottom a smack: “Hold on tight.”

Jing Heguang happily went back to playing with the ears, adding ingratiatingly, “Brother Xing, I was wrong! I won’t steal your dried meat anymore!”

Brother Xing was what the original owner called AXing. Most beastmen addressed the maltese tiger that way because of his immense strength. AXing frowned and said, “You can eat it yourself, but you aren’t allowed to give it to anyone else. Everyone’s dried meat must be earned by themselves or their family members. Otherwise, the clan’s rules would be thrown into chaos.”

Huang Shi hadn’t expected that the dim-witted canine beastman would actually steal the maltese tiger’s dried meat to give to Bai Xiang, something he hadn’t known about until now.

Huang Shi’s face darkened as he said, “Don’t talk nonsense. It must have been you pestering Bai Xiang, he had no choice but to trade fruit for your dried meat!”

If a sub-beastman accepted food from a beastman, it signified a desire to build a life together.

The canine beastman had only just come of age and was incredibly lazy, he clearly wasn’t a capable beastman. What sub-beastman would want to settle down with him?

The other beastmen listened and thought Huang Shi’s words made some sense.

Jing HeGuang huffed, his voice still held a milky, youthful tone, yet his words were perfectly clear: “Forced to trade fruit for dried meat? Just try forcing me to do that!”

As if being forced to get the better end of a deal was such a terrible grievance.

Once Jing HeGuang put it that way, the simple-minded beastmen realized the truth.

Bai Xiang was the one who had benefited here!

If a sub-beastman didn’t want something, they could tell the maltese tiger or the beastmen in their own family. No one would stand by and let a beastman bully a sub-beastman.

The basket was finally found and brought before the shaman.

AXing examined it and confirmed, “This is the basket.”

The shaman began to inspect the basket, looking it over and sniffing it, even applying a few different substances to its surface.

However, the Shaman found nothing unusual.

The shaman said, “There is no scent, and I can’t see any traces of anything having been applied to it.”

The shaman looked at AXing again. “Could AGuang have guessed wrong? Perhaps those two spiny behemoths simply wandered in and happened to run into you.”

AXing nodded, though his suspicions remained. Seeing the shaman declare there was no issue, Huang Shi felt a huge weight lift from his heart. He looked at the dim-witted canine beastman and said, “He’s lying! Bai Xiang might not have taken his dried meat at all!”

Beastmen and sub-beastmen of the Tiger clan were known for their loyalty, many would swear oaths before the Beast God to live and die together.

Huang Shi refused to believe that the sub-beastman he had set his sights on would actually accept meat offered by another beastman!

Seeing his son cleared of suspicion, the patriarch spoke up: “AGuang, you were mistaken. You should apologize to Bai Xiang later.”

Jing HeGuang replied, “Other sub-beastmen saw the dried meat too, I wasn’t lying. As for this basket, we can just find another Spiny Behemoth to test it on, and we’ll know for sure if there’s a problem!”

“Even if the basket turns out to be fine, why did Bai Xiang coax me into bringing Brother Xing here? Did he know there was a Spiny Behemoth here?”

“I demand an investigation into who was on patrol in this area last time!”

Jing HeGuang was certain that Huang Shi and Bai Xiang were up to no good.

If he let them off the hook now, that wicked tiger Huang Shi might come up with another scheme to harm people later, it was better to nail him for this right now.

In the Tiger clan, any beastman who harmed their own kin would be banished from the tribe.

Hearing this, Huang Shi was stunned.

How did this stupid canine beastman suddenly become so smart?! He had chosen him precisely because he was a fool.

At the same time, Huang Shi panicked. If they actually tested it and the truth came out, what then?

He had originally planned to secretly hide the basket while coming to carve the meat, then dispose of it on a later visit. But clearly, that plan was no longer viable.

The beastmen were naturally willing to give it a try and get to the bottom of the matter.

Since they already had meat for the day, they wouldn’t need to go out hunting in the afternoon. Once the hunting party returns, they could easily organize a group of beastmen to go find a Spiny Behemoth and put it to the test!

AXing looked at Huang Shi and said, “Let’s take the baskets and try it out this afternoon. If we’re wrong, I’ll have AGuang apologize and compensate Bai Xiang with ten long-eared beasts.”

Long-eared beasts had long ears and soft fur, however, they were quick to dodge and skilled at burrowing, making them rather difficult to catch.

Huang Shi snorted disdainfully, “That canine beastman is lazy and stupid, and he isn’t even one of our Tiger Clan, so his word is completely untrustworthy. There’s no need to test anything, he should just be driven out!”

Jing Heguang was not a member of the Tiger Clan, and the original owner of the body had a poor reputation.

Given the current argument, the other beastmen certainly wouldn’t take his side.

Even the white tiger had forgotten how cute Jing Heguang looked as a cub, recalling instead his usual, irritating habit of slacking off.

AXing looked at Huang Shi and declared, “If there’s nothing wrong with the baskets or the patrol plan, I’m willing to leave the tribe along with AGuang!”

He then scooped the furious Jing Heguang back into his arms, adding, “I believe you weren’t lying today.”