Chapter 173: Chapter 173: The Confused Little Cubs

Morning dew still clung to the grass.

Chang Xia watched Suye and Baiqing leave.

After a quick breakfast, she split up with Chen Rong and the others.

Leaving the cave, Chang Xia headed for the tribe’s training grounds, while Chen Rong’s group went straight to the wilds south of Lake Bai.

“Chang Xia, you’re up so early?” Muqin said in surprise.

Chang Xia waved and smiled. “It’s not early. Chen Rong and the others are already busy south of Lake Bai. I need to hurry and finish my basic training.”

“Then good luck, Chang Xia!” Muqin encouraged her.

She had a basket on her back—she was probably heading to the wilds to dig thatch roots too. Lately, as long as it didn’t rain, most of the tribe would go there.

Digging thatch roots, picking wild vegetables, maybe even hunting wild chickens or rabbits—

You could accomplish a lot at once.

With all the python meat stored up, the tribe didn’t even need to go out hunting much these days.

So, Gen led some people to Green Mountain to collect green oil.

Some people rested in the caves, others went to dig thatch roots in the wilds south of the lake.

The tribe was enjoying another period of leisure and ease.

Today, Elder Yami was in charge of training Shanjue and the other beast cubs. Previously, Elder Pukang had done it, but now Elder Yami had taken over, probably worried that Pukang’s methods would spoil the cubs.

“Not bad,” Elder Yami praised, and had Chang Xia start running laps.

Shanjue and the other cubs hadn’t arrived yet—they were probably still sleeping in. The tribe wasn’t strict with the cubs; as long as they finished their basic training each day, they had no other tasks.

After age ten,

Training would get tougher, and they’d start going out with the adults for real-life lessons.

Training wouldn’t be so easy then.

Chang Xia was an exception in the tribe.

Elder Yami only required her to finish the basics, nothing more. After all, adult beastfolk thought differently from cubs, and you couldn’t expect the same things from them—their minds were already set.

The main point of Chang Xia’s basic training was to teach her the essentials:

Building physical strength and endurance, and how to respond to danger. Especially transforming between human and beast forms—this was a must.

Chang Xia was still clumsy switching between the two forms. If she ran into danger and couldn’t beastify in time, it would be a big problem. In beast form, all physical abilities—strength, speed, endurance—were greatly enhanced.

Compared to her first training session,

Chang Xia was starting to get the hang of it.

She could run more laps now, and maybe because the cubs weren’t around, she found it much easier. Soon, she finished ten laps with no trouble.

Then she started the second round of training.

Once she finished her basic training, Elder Yami had her practice switching between human and beast forms, personally playing the “villain” role.

Huff, huff—

Chang Xia was breathing hard.

She hadn’t expected basic training to be so exhausting.

But it was working.

She could feel herself getting stronger, and switching between forms was becoming smoother and more natural. It didn’t feel awkward or uncomfortable anymore.

Walking upright, running on all fours—

Chang Xia could do both perfectly now.

“Chang Xia-jie!”

The sun was rising, and the temperature was climbing.

Shanjue’s voice came from far away, followed by the chatter of the other beast cubs.

Hearing them, Chang Xia quickly climbed onto Elder Yami’s back,

her beautiful eyes wide and alert.

Hmph!

Today, she wasn’t going to let Shanjue and the others carry her home.

“Chang Xia-jie!” Shanjue looked up at her, longing in his eyes.

Every time he saw Chang Xia’s beast form, he couldn’t help drooling—her fur was just too beautiful. Long and soft, it felt amazing to touch.

What a pity—Sister Changxia is just too shy.

She always keeps her distance from them.

Lu You, Wu Liu, and the others all looked at Changxia, their faces full of longing, as if they wanted to give her a hug.

But Changxia just looked aloof and cold, gazing down at the others like Shan Que from above. She purred, her tail draped over Elder Yami’s shoulder, the little tuft of gold at the tip sparkling dazzlingly in the sunlight.

“Elder Yami, I’ll head back to the White Lake cave now,” Changxia said.

Her fluffy head rubbed gently against Elder Yami’s cheek, purring adorably, clearly in a great mood. Sure enough, coming to the training ground early had paid off—at least she didn’t have to train with Shan Que and the others.

Thinking of this, Changxia grinned happily.

With that, she grabbed the vine basket in her mouth and quickly left the training ground.

“Elder Yami—”

Shan Que and the others looked confused, not understanding why Sister Changxia had just left like that.

Yami explained, “Changxia finished today’s basic training, so she can go back early.”

Hearing this, Shan Que and the others were stunned.

So fast!

They had just arrived at the training ground, and Changxia was already done.

It hadn’t been like this just the day before yesterday.

Meanwhile, Changxia trotted out of the training ground, carrying the vine basket as she strolled leisurely around the tribe. Most of the tribe members were out digging for wild grass roots, so the place was pretty empty.

Changxia walked along at a relaxed pace, taking her time.

She swayed with every step, leaving the tribe and heading back to White Lake.

She used to run into wild pheasants along the way, but lately, the tribe had developed a taste for chicken soup. Now, there were no wild pheasants to be found near the tribe; if any did appear, the tribe would catch them, clip their wings, and toss them into the pen that Changxia had fenced off.

Unfortunately, chicken feathers couldn’t be used to make down jackets.

Still, Changxia had made several feather dusters out of them, which were quite handy for dusting.

She pushed open the door and stepped into her own courtyard.

In a flash, Changxia darted back inside, shifted to her human form, got dressed, and came out of the cave again.

First, she moved the bamboo sieves from the wooden shed to dry chili peppers in the sun.

She busied herself, bringing out all the chili peppers to dry, then fetched the leftover chopped chilies from the kitchen and used wooden chopsticks to stir them around a bit.

After that, she went back to the cave and opened all the doors and windows.

The cave had just been built, and all the furniture was new, so there was still some dampness inside.

It was a rare, cloudless day, so Changxia decided she might as well tidy up the cave. She opened the doors and windows, then took the clothes from the wardrobe and hung them over the corridor railing to air out.

She still had a few bolts of blue cloth at home, but she wasn’t in a hurry to sew new clothes.

She had enough to wear herself, and was thinking of making a couple of outfits for the twin cubs. But since the twins couldn’t take human form yet, there was no rush.

With no one else at home, Changxia went about her chores at her own pace.

After a while, she finally took a break.

She took out the beast pouch from the wardrobe and placed the snowflake stone that Chen Rong had picked up last night on the square table. She planned to practice her skills a bit, not intending to go dig wild grass roots in the wilderness south of White Lake today.

Actually, she had thought about grinding flour.

But grinding flour was hard work, so Changxia decided to wait until Chen Rong was home to do it together.

“Granny Suye’s little wooden stick is really handy!” Changxia said, applying a bit of pressure and easily scratching a line into the snowflake stone.

She started by slicing the snowflake stone.

A bracelet shouldn’t be too thick or too thin.

Changxia just fiddled around, using the little wooden stick to grind it in circles.

Honestly, it was hard to control as a beginner.

The first piece of snowflake stone ended up shattered by Changxia.

But she didn’t mind. She just pushed the broken pieces to the corner of the table and kept going.

? ? Thanks to: Zero, Jin Ling, The Donkey at the Mill, Reader 161206202212042, Yaya, Reader 20180816215437189, Sweet World, 灬LoveYouNotLongButForever灬, Kailu as Xili, Luoxia Feiyu, (*^▽^*) and others for your monthly votes. Thanks to “Dandelion Who Wants to Go Home” for the tip—there’ll be an extra chapter tomorrow.

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