SGSHE76

The young sub-beastman was astonished.

AGuang, that young beastman, was usually so lazy, why had he come all the way here to wash his animal-hide clothes today?

But once he clearly saw the red mark on the side of the beastman’s neck, the young sub-beastman understood the reason.

Whenever his beastman father ‘bullied’ his sub-beastman dad, he would obediently go wash the animal-hide bedding the next day.

The young sub-beastman crouched down beside Jing Heguang.

Jing Heguang looked up and recognized him as a young sub-beastman the original owner had known well; they had once been in the same gathering team.

In a good mood, Jing Heguang smiled and greeted him: “Good morning. Are you washing clothes too?”

The young sub-beastman nodded.

After a moment’s thought, he spoke up: “AGuang, you really need to be more diligent in your daily life.” He shouldn’t only run off to wash the bedding after ‘bullying’ the person.

He looked at AGuang’s face. “People don’t like lazy folks.”

Using himself as an example, he said, “Back when we were on the same team, I really liked your looks. But you were too lazy, so I stopped liking you. You need to be hardworking, that way, you and brother Xing can stay together for the long haul!”

After the incident last time, the young sub-beastman had sorted out his feelings: he hadn’t actually liked AGuang himself, he had only liked AGuang’s face.

If someone else had a face like that, he might have liked them too, perhaps even more. After all, most beastmen weren’t as lazy as AGuang used to be.

Still, he didn’t dislike AGuang. He hoped that AGuang, who seemed to be turning over a new leaf, would have a better future.

Jing Heguang felt a bit awkward. In the past, he had driven people away by being ‘fat’, whereas the original owner had driven them away by being ‘lazy’. Jing Heguang wrung out the clean clothes and said, “Thank you! I’ll be more diligent from now on.”

The young sub-beastman smiled. “As long as you don’t mind me being a chatterbox. I hadn’t actually planned on telling you, after all, brother Xing promised he wouldn’t tell you too.”

Jing Heguang: ???

Jing Heguang was a bit bewildered. “Brother Xing knew you used to like my face? When was this?”

How come he didn’t know? Jing Heguang felt a twinge of panic.

He didn’t quite understand it either, when did the young sub-beastman come to like his face and even approach brother Xing about it?

But then, recalling how Huang Hua, another sub-beastman, had also sought him out, Jing Heguang began to get the picture.

The young sub-beastman explained, “It was at the last bonfire gathering. I asked brother Xing if you’d become more diligent. I thought, if you had, I’d go tell you I liked you.”

Jing Heguang asked, “And then?”

The young sub-beastman laughed. “Then brother Xing said you’d burnt the roast meat, and I realized I didn’t actually like you after all.”

Jing Heguang thought back to that day. He’d been distracted, thinking about his confession, and had indeed burnt a piece of meat, charring it black.

But he swore that the burnt piece didn’t reflect his usual skill, it was just a slip-up. Brother Xing had thoroughly enjoyed the meat he roasted later on!

So, brother Xing had badmouthed him to the young sub-beastman…was he… jealous?!

Just like how his own face had darkened with anger when he heard what Huang Hua said.

Thinking about how brother Xing had been jealous over him, Jing Heguang grinned foolishly.

No wonder brother Xing hadn’t been very happy that day that they had simply gone home to sleep without saying much. It was a shame he’d been jealous himself and hadn’t noticed, otherwise, he might have been able to confess that very night!

Jing Heguang thought about how he’d spent another ten-odd days agonizing over it, a smile played on his lips as he let out a sweet sigh. “So that’s how it was.”

The young sub-beastman’s smile gradually stiffened. He knew that silly grin all too well, it was the exact same look his beastman father always wore!

He’d find a good beastman of his own sooner or later! Hmph!

The young sub-beastman grumbled indignantly as he washed the clothes.

Jing Heguang snapped back to reality, quickly finished washing the last piece of fur clothing, and wrung it dry.

Just before leaving, Jing Heguang reached up and plucked two leaves from the tall soap tree by the river for the young sub-beastman.

“I really will be diligent from now on. Once I’ve bonded with brother Xing, I’ll treat you to roasted meat!”

***

AXing got up, had something to eat, stepped out to let the patriarch know he was back, and then lay down again.

It wasn’t that he felt particularly unwell, he was just a bit sleepy. They’d been up quite late the night before, and his lower back was a little sore.

Before drifting off, AXing found himself wondering: Is this a natural talent of the canine beastmen? That little cub’s stamina is just…incredible.

When Jing Heguang returned, he first hung up the fur bedding and clothes to dry before entering the cave.

Seeing that brother Xing was asleep, Jing Heguang lay down on the bed as well.

Gazing at AXing’s sleeping face, Jing Heguang thought back to the moment AXing had gotten jealous.

He planted a kiss on AXing’s cheek. “You look so cute when you’re jealous, brother Xing.”

After that kiss, Jing Heguang slowly drifted off to sleep, his heart filled with affection.

As they slept, the two of them naturally gravitated toward each other until they were snuggled close.

***

Half a month later, the patriarch handed the position over to the Maltese tiger.

The Maltese tiger’s succession was fully endorsed by everyone in the tribe.

As for Jing Heguang…after pointing out a mistake in one of the shaman’s drawings, he was promptly recruited to train as the next shaman.

The shaman had gone to great lengths to trick a capable successor into the role, even fabricating a story about a past shaman and patriarch falling in love due to their frequent interactions.

Jing Heguang felt he was a bit dim-witted. He was often restless, clearly immature, and had a rather simple way of thinking. In reality, however, most of the beastmen in this world lived this way. Everyone was at a relatively simple, unadorned stage of development. Therefore, within the Tiger Tribe, he was truly among the most intelligent of the lot.

Jing Heguang thought that life would be dull otherwise, and the idea of ​​building up the tribe alongside brother Xing sounded appealing, so he agreed.

After AXing took over as the patriarch, Jing Heguang officially became the shaman’s apprentice, and the shaman-in-waiting.

The first major issue requiring their attention was the imminent arrival of a beast tide.

During the dry autumn season, the weather remains parched, prompting wild beasts to instinctively migrate in pursuit of rainfall and water sources.

This drought acts like a cycle, driving the beasts to roam repeatedly across different territories.

Wherever these beasts passed, it was tantamount to experiencing a beast tide.

This year, a portion of the migrating beasts would be passing near the Tiger Tribe’s settlement.

During the beast tide, all the tribes would unite to drive out any beasts that strayed into their territory, all while striving to preserve the local vegetation as much as possible.

Jing Heguang knew that this particular tide wouldn’t pose a serious threat to the Tiger Tribe, the only real concern was that one stray group of beasts.

He could easily handle that small group of beasts all by himself!

However, the others didn’t know this, and he couldn’t use it as an excuse to let everyone underestimate the tide. After all, every encounter with a beast tide was an opportunity to accumulate experience.

Jing Heguang was only aware of this specific tide, but there would be many more tides in the future.

That was why he diligently assisted the new patriarch, AXing, in making thorough preparations.

The tribe dispatched numerous hunting parties in advance to stockpile processed meat in their homes, and everyone began consciously storing water.

***

When the ground began to wither and turn yellow, and the skies had gone long without rain, the beast tide finally arrived.

Out on the overgrown grasslands…

Jing Heguang stood with the shamans from other tribes, positioned behind the ranks of beastmen.

The group of shamans consisted mostly of sub-beastmen. Jing Heguang listened as the elders among them recounted the terrors of past beast tides.

The other beastmen overheard these stories as well, and their vigilance naturally heightened.

Then, the vanguard returned, relaying news to the main force that a herd of shaggy giant beasts was passing through.

Moments later, the herd of shaggy giant beasts came into view.

The maltese tiger was standing with the patriarch of the other tribes. Upon spotting the herd, he turned and called out, “AGuang, come here for a moment.”

The shamans watched as Jing Heguang, the shaman-in-training, ran over to where the beastmen stood.

Then, they witnessed Jing Heguang shift into his massive beast form, wearing a smile even in that state, and swiftly make short work of the entire herd of shaggy giant beasts! Finally, Jing Heguang rubbed his paws against the withered yellow grass before shifting back into human form.

The shamans: …

When it came to this year’s beast tide, the ones suffering weren’t them, it was the beasts!

The Tiger Tribe warriors calmly stepped forward to butcher the shaggy beasts the shaman had taken down. They set aside some meat for everyone to eat and hauled the rest back with them.

They had long since grown accustomed to shaman AGuang’s ferocity.

After dealing with that particular group of beasts, other tribes in the vicinity also organized cleanup efforts for the herds passing through their own territories.

However, not every tribe possessed such formidable combat strength, so Jing Heguang and the maltese tiger acted as a rescue team, staying busy across the region throughout the autumn beast tide season.

Although the beasts posed no threat to the Tiger Tribe, preserving more vegetation was beneficial for the environment as a whole.

It wasn’t as if Jing Heguang was seeking the thrill of visiting new places, he was simply an upright beastman.

***

After the beast tide season concluded and the two returned, the Beast God Festival arrived.

The Beast God Festival was an auspicious day for beastmen to form lifelong bonds. Couples who bonded on this day might receive the Beast God’s blessing.

This blessing took the form of a mark capable of helping the beastmen survive a single brush with fatal danger. However, should a second life-threatening crisis occur, the couple would perish together.

Such marks were rare.

Coincidentally, the original owner’s biological beastman father and sub-beastman dad, as well as the maltese tiger’s own biological beastman father and sub-beastman dad, were all couples who had received the Beast God’s blessing.

On the day of the Beast God Festival…

A sea of ​​beautiful flowers surrounded the Tiger Tribe’s bonding altar, ten couples were set to hold their bonding ceremonies that day.

The tribe’s giant ox-horn trumpet sounded, announcing that the time for the ceremonies had arrived.

Jing Heguang and AXing stood at the very front of the ten couples, facing the shaman. The shaman smiled as he looked at the two of them. “I remember urging AXing to find a mate, a sub-beastman, and bond during the Beast God Festival, but he didn’t care about it at all back then!”

AXing coughed, blushing as he recalled how he had once vowed that the Beast God Festival three years down the line would have nothing to do with him.

Jing Heguang tilted his head and planted a kiss on the corner of AXing’s mouth. “It’s simply fate.”

The shaman smiled and began to officiate the bonding ceremony.

He performed a dance whose steps Jing Heguang couldn’t decipher, yet Jing Heguang could clearly sense the shaman’s sincerity and blessings.

This kind and upright shaman had never bonded with a mate himself, instead, he treated every child in the tribe as his own.

As a branch dipped in river water tapped his forehead, Jing Heguang felt a sharp, stinging sensation on his hand.

He looked down and saw a tiny, pale-gold, heart-shaped mark appear on his hand.

An identical mark appeared on the hand of AXing, whose fingers were interlaced with his own.

The two marks, one on the left and one on the right, looked like a perfect match.

AXing touched the mark. “It looks like the shape behind my ear, the one you like.”

He often saw the little cub making that shape, arranging yueyue flowers into it, shaping roasted meat that way, and, of course, the cub loved rubbing his ears.

Jing Heguang took AXing’s hand and placed it over his own left chest. “This is called a heart shape, it represents love.”

The two gazed at each other on the bonding platform.

Touching the cub’s strong chest, AXing felt his own heart begin to race.

After the shaman finished blessing the final pair, marks had appeared on two of the ten couples.

With the bonding ceremony complete, the tribe’s beastmen and sub-beastmen began to dance around the platform.

Cheers and joyful shouts rang out, the celebration of the Beast God Festival had truly begun!

Jing Heguang and the Maltese tiger, standing somewhat awkwardly on the bonding platform, began to sway and move to the rhythm of the music.

Neither of them was particularly skilled at dancing, but that didn’t stop them from spinning along with the crowd and expressing their joy through movement.

Finally, amidst the rugged, heartfelt singing and the mouth-watering aroma of roasting meat, they embraced and shared a kiss.

Night had not yet fallen.

Jing Heguang whisked the patriarch away in secret.

The two returned to their newly built home, collapsing onto the spacious, sturdy kang bed, nestled in soft animal furs, to indulge in the pleasures of intimacy.

Jing Heguang planted a kiss on AXing’s cheek. “Brother Xing, this is our very first day living in the new house!”

The house had actually been finished a while ago, but before the interior could fully dry, the two of them had rushed off to act as a firefighting squad, experiencing plenty of the wild outdoors in the process.

AXing tilted his head back, his deep eyes reflected the image of the man who held his heart.

“Hurry…up.” He reached out a hand, clasping the back of Jing Heguang’s head.

Pausing briefly between kisses, Jing Heguang smiled and replied, “You asked for it!”

Although the system was nowhere to be seen, Jing Heguang had tested things out enough times to realize that the perks it had granted remained incredibly useful.

For instance, Jing Heguang’s stamina, and his lower back strength, were truly exceptional.

Author’s Note: A bonus chapter will be posted.

Next story: Entertainment setting — Handsome ‘scum’ senior (mentor) Top x Wealthy family’s long-lost ‘real prince’ junior (trainee) Bottom.