SGSHE71

Jing Heguang felt he was being underestimated.

Just then, the maltese tiger tail swept past his hand. Jing Heguang gave it a touch and asked, “Brother Xing, when do I shift into my beast form? Can I stomp that lion over there to death?”

The maltese tiger’s tail twitched, and he exhaled a warm breath through his nostrils.

‘I really need to teach this little cub a lesson later,’ AXing thought. ‘You can’t just go around touching tails like that!’

AXing growled his reply: “Once I get behind them, AGuang, you shift and stomp on the lions. Just be careful not to stomp the wrong person and don’t get hurt!”

AXing kept his voice low so the other side wouldn’t overhear.

From across the way, Shi Er could only see a tiger beastman, marked with black and white stripes and splashes of deep blue on his face, talking to that foolish beastman.

He was surely scolding that fool.

The idiot didn’t even know to shift into his beast form, even if he were trying to run away, beast forms were also much faster!

Filled with confidence, Shi Er threw his head back and let out a mighty roar, charging forward with his lion brothers.

They would tear these tigers apart! Afterward, they’d bring the main force to seize the tiger tribe territory, sleep with the tiger tribe’s sub-beastmen, and devour the tiger tribe’s food stores!

Shi Er charged valiantly toward the most imposing figure in the tiger pack, the maltese tiger!

Shi Er knew that ‘mutants’ were formidable, his own older brother, for instance, was far stronger than he was.

He couldn’t beat his brother, but he was confident he could kill this mutant tiger beastman, after all, he was the second strongest lion beastman in the tribe!

As the lions charged, the tigers arched their backs and surged forward to meet them.

The momentum of the charge carried immense power. Only ferocity could counter ferocity, for flinching often spelled a terrible end, defeat and death. The white tiger stood in a standoff against a lion, while the other beastmen also engaged their respective targets.

AXing, the maltese tiger, began to move. Just as Shi Er anticipated a head-on clash, the tiger suddenly twisted his body and leapt aside, deftly dodging the attack.

Shi Er roared in frustration, mocking the tiger beastman’s cowardice. Despite being a formidable mutant, the tiger lacked the courage to face him in battle.

AXing darted past Shi Er, then wheeled around to cut off the escape route of another lion.

“Roar—”

A thunderous tiger roar rang out, rousing the tiger beastmen. It was a battle cry signaling them to clear the area.

Then, the ground shook as a massive, mountain-like canine beastman appeared.

The canine beastman’s mouth curved into a smile-like shape, and as he lowered his head, the others could see two cute, dot-like markings above his eyes, giving him a completely harmless appearance.

However, the very next instant, Jing Heguang charged forward and began stomping furiously on the group of lions below!

The first to suffer the consequences was Shi Er, the very one who had mocked him!

Jing Heguang remembered clearly that this lion had tried to bite his brother Xing, so he made sure to give him a few extra stomps.

And so, Shi Er, destined to be a future king, had both his hind paws crushed by a single stomp just as he tried to flee.

With another stomp, his head was brutally flattened.

Then, letting out a loud ‘woof,’ Jing Heguang charged toward the other lions to stomp on them as well.

In Jing Heguang’s eyes, these lions looked like mere cubs. He barely felt a thing when he stepped down, he would simply hear the lions yelping in pain.

The tiger beastmen stood dumbfounded, though, prompted by the maltese tiger, they quickly scrambled out of the way.

This was the second time the white tiger had witnessed the canine beastman, AGuang, transform into his beast form, yet he still found the sight utterly astonishing. AGuang’s beast form was massive!

If they had a beast form that big, it would be absolutely exhilarating!

Spiky behemoth or spineless ones, it wouldn’t matter. Any beast could be crushed with a single stomp!

In the blink of an eye, Jing Heguang had stomped several more lions into the ground.

The other lions, previously frozen in shock, finally realized — they were done for!

Deep down, the lions cursed the tiger tribe for being underhanded!

That lying beastman from earlier must have lured them here on purpose, just so this giant canine beastman, who had been hiding within the tiger tribe, could stomp them to death!

The lions scattered to flee, but the tiger warriors wouldn’t let them escape. Relying on their superior numbers, they blocked the lions’ path completely.

One or two quick-witted lions tried to charge toward the rear, only to find the maltese tiger waiting for them. He raised his sharp claws and viciously tore open a lion’s belly.

Now, the lions thought the tiger tribe was even more underhanded!

That giant canine hadn’t shifted into his beast form at first, he’d waited until they charged in before transforming to stomp on them!

And that mutant tiger, instead of facing their second-in-command head-on, he just lurked there, launching sneak attacks with his claws!

Underhanded! Utterly underhanded!

The entire tiger tribe was full of underhanded beastmen!

The Lion warriors, who had always relied on their strength to bully weaker beasts, never imagined a day would come when they would be bullied so miserably.

Even their past relocation had merely been because their tribe was growing too fast for that lousy territory to sustain them, not because they couldn’t actually beat that bunch of weaklings.

The lions roared furiously, telling those who managed to escape to warn the tribe to watch out for the tiger’s treachery.

The tiger warriors, who had roared enough to roughly understand what was being said, were left speechless…

They were completely bewildered too. The beastmen who had mocked the white tiger the night before were feeling particularly conflicted now.

They had nothing to do with any underhanded schemes, they hadn’t even known about this themselves!

It was only just now that they learned the canine beastmen of their tribe were also mutants. Specifically, the kind that mutated into giants.

Although the tiger beastmen thought this to themselves, they didn’t say a word aloud. Instead, they fought ruthlessly, ensuring every single lion beastman was taken down, not a single one was allowed to escape.

If these lions got away, they would return as fresh reinforcements for the detestable lion tribe and might even come back to snatch away their sub-beastmen. They absolutely could not be left alive.

Jing Heguang stomped around the area before realizing there didn’t seem to be any live lion cubs left.

He shifted back into human form and ran over to the maltese tiger to claim credit.

As Jing Heguang ran over, the tiger beastmen stared blankly at the trail of lion corpses left in his wake.

Those lions trampled to death by the canine beastmen…it was a truly gruesome sight!

The lions were flattened completely, looking like spread-out pelts with only the slightest undulations.

The maltese tiger also saw the lion pelts on the ground. Looking at the young beastman rushing toward him, he suddenly felt that perhaps he wasn’t quite as formidable or capable as he had imagined.

The little cub was clearly far stronger than him. With just a single stomp, he could take out any giant beast.

Just as he was thinking this, Jing Heguang rushed over and threw his arms around the maltese tiger’s massive head.

“Brother Xing! I stomped them all to death! I made sure to stomp the one that tried to bite you first!”

The maltese tiger let out a low roar and rubbed his large head against the cub.

Seizing the opportunity, Jing Heguang took the chance to sneakily give the big cat’s head a good, vigorous rub.

The fur was a bit coarse and prickly, but the sense of satisfaction far outweighed the tactile sensation.

This was a big cat, after all!! And a super rare kind, too!

Gazing at the maltese tiger’s handsome beast form, Jing Heguang suddenly asked, “Brother Xing, your beast form is so cool! Is mine cool too? Do I look fierce?”

The maltese tiger stiffened.

Aside from its massive size and destructive power, the cub’s beast form didn’t seem to have…anything to do with looking ‘fierce’?

Just as the maltese tiger hesitated, the white tiger, who had a small scratch on his face, grinned and sauntered over.

“AGuang, great job!” said ABai. “We really owe you one today. Things would have been a real mess without you.”

After the praise, the white tiger added with blunt honesty, “But your beast form isn’t exactly fierce, hahaha! You look just like a grown-up pup from the Canine Clan. It was cute, just like the long-eared beast!”

A ‘long-eared beast’ was essentially what modern people called a rabbit.

Jing Heguang was stunned: …

His beast form was so huge, wasn’t it supposed to be incredibly imposing and mighty?

He felt like his life, no, his beast-life had been a lie. Seeing the look of dejection on the cub’s face, the maltese tiger extended his tongue and gave the little one a lick.

“You looked very fierce,” AXing said reassuringly, though he was undeniably cute too.

Jing Heguang knew brother Xing was just trying to comfort him, he still hugged the big cat and nuzzled against him, easing the small sense of disappointment in his heart.

While letting the cub nuzzle him, AXing began organizing the next steps.

“First, check to make sure all the lion beastmen are truly dead, then bury them. As for Huang Shi…take him along and bring him back to the patriarch.”

Huang Shi had been mauled to death by a lion, the bite marks were still visible on his neck.

Although Huang Shi had been banished from the tribe and had even led the lion beastmen to snatch up the tiger’s sub-beastmen, the honest beastmen who witnessed his death couldn’t bear the thought of leaving his body exposed in the wild.

Of course, this also served as a way to warn the tribe that danger had arrived.

On the journey back, the beastmen took turns carrying Huang Shi’s body.

***

Upon their return, the sight of several beastmen bearing minor injuries, along with Huang Shi’s corpse, quickly drew the tribe members to the central clearing.

The patriarch’s eyes turned red the moment he saw Huang Shi’s body.

“What happened here?!” the patriarch demanded, looking at the white tiger who had carried Huang Shi on the final leg of the journey.

He knew it wasn’t safe for a beastman to be out alone, but Huang Shi was in his prime and an experienced hunter, so how could he have lost his life just half a month after leaving the tribe?

Hearing the patriarch question, the returning beastmen displayed a mix of anger and hesitation.

The angry ones were, naturally, those with sub-beastmen in their families. They held Huang Shi’s actions in utter contempt. Huang Shi had betrayed the tribe’s safety for the sake of his own survival, he was unworthy of being a tiger beastman!

At that moment, they felt even more convinced that the decision to banish Huang Shi had been the right one. Keeping a spineless beastman like this in the tribe would only pose a greater danger.

The white tiger spoke up: “patriarch, we headed toward the area where the sub-beastmen gather fruit today, only to be ambushed by Huang Shi and a group of lion beastmen. When the lion members saw that we were the hunting party, they mauled Huang Shi to death.”

The patriarch was stunned by these words.

He gazed at Huang Shi’s corpse, unable to utter a single word.

As the leader of the tribe, the patriarch had once been the smartest, bravest, and most courageous of all the beastmen, having given his all for the tribe.

Every scar on his body was a badge of honor!

Yet now, his own son had betrayed the tribe?

Looking at Huang Shi, the patriach no longer felt any heartache.

He took a deep breath, stood up, and looked at the returning beastmen. “How many lions were there? Did any of you get hurt?”

He glanced at the maltese tiger, a look of apology flashing in his eyes. Just moments ago, he had wondered if Huang Shi had acted foolishly and the maltese tiger had killed him…

AXing didn’t take offense and spoke directly: “Patriarch, there were 23 lion beastmen, and we buried every single one of them in the forest. Thanks to AGuang, none of us suffered serious injuries, everyone only sustained minor wounds.”

“23!” The patriarch was shocked by the staggering number. “You actually buried all of them, and only suffered minor injuries?”

His eyes widened, he felt truly old.

He couldn’t fathom how 20 tiger beastmen had managed to take down 23 lion beastmen.

The other beastmen and sub-beastmen were equally astonished. “You mauled them all to death? You were all so fierce today!”

“Yeah! That was amazing!”

“Did those lions get weaker? Still, they were tough opponents, yet not a single beastman suffered a serious injury!”

The sub-beastmen and beastmen looked at the hunting party members with admiration, even Jing Heguang received approving glances.

The maltese tiger had just said that they owed it all to the young canine beastman, he must have been the one to spot the lion beastmen early on! After all, canine beastmen possess keen instincts and a powerful sense of smell.

Yet, aside from Jing Heguang, the other beastmen looked rather sheepish.

The white tiger spoke up first: “I only mauled one lion, and even then, its leg had already been snapped by AGuang!”

“I mauled two, but those lions were already practically torn to shreds by everyone else.”

“I…I didn’t actually maul any lions, I just helped block their path.”

The beastmen felt they hadn’t really contributed much, they had merely lent a hand.

They agreed with the Maltese tiger’s words: today’s success was largely thanks to the young beastman, AGuang.

Realizing this, the honest, straightforward beastmen began praising Jing Heguang once more.

“It’s all thanks to AGuang, his beast form is truly massive!”

“I’ve never seen a beastman with such a huge beast form!”

“AGuang’s beast form is like a small mountain, he could flatten them with a single step!”

The patriarch: ?

The shaman: ??

The other sub-beastmen and beastmen: ???

What on earth were these hunting party members talking about?

The young canine beastman’s beast form was huge, like a small mountain?

The key point was that all the hunting party members were saying this. It wasn’t just the maltese tiger, or the maltese tiger plus the white tiger. The entire hunting party was saying the same thing.

So…was the young canine beastman’s beast form really that big? Bigger even than the tiger beastmen? Gazes filled with curiosity and astonishment turned in unison toward Jing Heguang.

The Maltese tiger was already accustomed to his clansmen’s lack of exposure to such things.

He swatted away the hand of a youngster who was trying to sneak a touch of his tail and said, “AGuang, why don’t you shift into your beast form and show everyone?” He then turned to the others and added, “Make some room, everyone. It requires quite a bit of space.”

The beastmen stepped back in unison.

The members of the hunting party were particularly dramatic, taking long strides backward until they had moved a dozen paces away.

The orcs and sub-orcs in the tribe took one look, then instinctively shuffled backward, widening the gap they had already created.

In their minds, they thought: That’s a huge amount of space they’ve cleared, they must have left plenty of room for the little beastman to move around!

Jing Heguang withdrew his hand, wondering curiously why brother Xing’s tail wasn’t as sensitive as his own, all while obediently shifting into his beast form.

A canine beastman, towering like a small mountain, suddenly appeared in the tribe’s open clearing.

The beastman and sub-beastman stared in stunned silence.

The shaman exclaimed excitedly, “This is miraculous! I must paint this scene on the finest animal hide to tell the tiger cubs of the future!”

Indeed, only the word ‘miraculous’ could capture the astonishment in the beastmen’ hearts.

They had never seen a beast form of such immense size! Even a beastmen from the elephant clan would look like a mere cub standing before this gigantic canine beastman.

Jing Heguang lowered his head, spotted the maltese tiger, and nudged his massive head forward, wanting to nuzzle him.

However, the moment he made contact, the maltese tiger was nearly knocked over by the force of it.

AXing held the massive ‘cub’ and took a step back, then reached out to pinch those chubby, snow-white jowls, cheeks so big they were impossible to fully grasp!

The white tiger watched, thinking brother Xing was truly bold. If the little beastman accidentally took a bite, half a person would be gone in an instant!

He himself wouldn’t dare touch it casually, even though it certainly looked soft and inviting.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, the white tiger saw the canine beastman open his mouth.

Jing Heguang stuck out his tongue and happily gave AXing a lick! It was a purely instinctive reaction.

After that single lick, Jing Heguang sheepishly retracted his tongue.

Too embarrassed to shift back into human form, he simply gazed longingly at AXing and nudged his jowls into AXing’s hands, hoping his cuteness would get him out of trouble. AXing rubbed the little beastman’s chubby cheeks, his heart pounding. The silly little cub had actually kissed him!

Just as their attention was distracted, a round ball rolled out of a father beastman’s grasp and spun right up to them.

The tiger cub, having tumbled to the ground, clutched his head and looked up in a daze. Drooling as he gazed at Jing Heguang, he mumbled, “Big! So big!”

The tiger cub was so fat he looked like a ball; his body seemed to be made of two spheres stacked together.

Not daring to make contact while in his beast form, Jing Heguang shifted back to human form. Looking down at the cub, he asked, “Whose cub is this? He’s so round!”

AXing picked him up. “This is AFei.” He then handed AFei back to his father.

AFei’s father smiled sheepishly, the cub was incredibly heavy and round. He had been so engrossed in watching the canine beastman’s beast forms that AFei had simply rolled away.

Jing Heguang, however, was momentarily stunned. He recognized the name AFei.

The last time he had heard it was when some beastmen were joking: “Who is fatter, AGuang or AFei?”

Gazing at AFei’s round, ball-like bottom, Jing Heguang fell into deep thought.

He told himself: I’m not fat, I’m just fluffy.

After returning AFei, the beastmen began discussing the lion tribe.

Given the lion’s notorious habits, they would undoubtedly continue their bandit-like behavior.

For a tribe, losing its sub-beastmen meant having no future cubs. Without cubs, the tribe would face extinction.

Naturally, the beastmen had no intention of handing over their tribe or their sub-beastmen, they actively discussed how to deal with the lion tribe beastmen.

However, now that they had a massive, ‘ferocious’ beastmen on their side, there was no need to rush. They could simply wait for the lion tribe to come knocking and suffer a humiliating defeat, repeating the events of the day all over again!

The lion tribe was unaware that the tiger tribe, beings who usually had absolutely nothing to do with underhandedness, had set aside their typical straightforward nature while devising a plan against them. They were now actively plotting how to outwit and trap the lions.

Upon realizing this, Jing Heguang felt a twinge of guilt: Could this be my doing?

He had truly only acted that way because he was afraid of scaring the lion beastmen off, after all, he only knew one move — stomping around wildly.

He didn’t even know how to hunt yet!

***

Night had fallen.

At the lion tribe’s new territory…

Amidst the bustling tribe, a black lion lay sprawled inside a cave, fast asleep.

Shi San hurriedly burst into the black lion’s cave and shouted, “Big brother! It’s already dark, but second brother still hasn’t come back.”

The black lion was roused from his sleep and let out a low, disgruntled growl.

“What’s the panic? Second brother probably got so busy sleeping with a sub-beastman that he forgot the time.” Shi Da was clearly annoyed at being woken up.

Shi San was the youngest of the three brothers and was the most observant and cautious among them.

Shi San said worriedly, “But big brother, second brother went to the tiger tribe’s territory today. That bunch of tigers isn’t to be trifled with, they’re incredibly stubborn and thick-headed!”

“Besides, second brother left this morning. Even if he was sleeping with a sub-beastman, he should have been back by now!”

Shi San was worried that something had happened to his second brother.

The black lion, however, wasn’t particularly concerned: “Your second brother might not be able to beat me, but handling a few tigers is no problem for him. He took over twenty beastmen with him too, so what could possibly go wrong?”

It was night, so going out to search for the beastmen wasn’t practical. The black lion offered a few words of reassurance to his younger brother, then had the freshest meat brought over and heartily enjoyed the meal.

Once he was full, the black lion took a stroll outside before settling down to sleep, cradling his favorite sub-beastman, who happened to be from a tiger clan. After venting his lust on the sub-beastman, the black lion gave the sub-beastman’s neck a playful nip. “There’s a tiger tribe nearby, I wonder if they have sub-beastmen like you? Their cubs must be tender and delicious too, right?”

The sub-beastman shuddered in terror, his lovely face turning pale instantly.

He was terrified, this black lion was truly a monster.

This beast would devour sub-beastmen and, on a whim, even eat the cubs of other tribes. The sub-beastman lived in constant fear that he might accidentally provoke the black lion and end up being eaten himself.

Amidst the sub-beastman’s trembling anxiety, the next day arrived.

Yet, by noon, Shi Er and his group still hadn’t returned.

The black lion finally sensed something was amiss. He stepped out of the dry, comfortable cave and ordered his lion beastman subordinates to capture some locals, beastmen and sub-beastmen alike, for questioning.

Though the black lion was rough and crude, he wasn’t stupid. He knew the importance of gathering intelligence.

A nearby tribe suffered the consequences, with both beastmen and sub-beastmen being snatched up.

As for resistance, those goat-beastmen, deer-beastmen, and leopard-beastmen who tried to fight back were simply mauled to death.

After some interrogation, the lion tribe obtained detailed information about the tiger tribe, including their population of beastmen and sub-beastmen, as well as which warriors were particularly powerful.

The black lion speculated that his second brother had likely underestimated the tiger tribe and fallen victim to a sneak attack by that ‘mutant’ among them.

However, the black lion was a mutant himself, possessing immense power, and he feared no other mutant.

Thus, early on the third day, the black lion set out with Shi San and a host of the tribe’s elite warriors, leading a massive pack of beastmen straight toward the tiger tribe.

He had heard that the tiger tribe held the best territory and the most beautiful sub-beastmen, soon, all of it would belong to the lion tribe!

As for that mutant maltese tiger, he would maul him to death and devour him to avenge his second brother!