Chapter 203: Chapter 203: Forest Deer

“Father!” Nan Feng shouted, both embarrassed and angry.

Gen ignored Nan Feng’s murderous glare and continued, “You’re right, you didn’t take the tribe’s cubs to soak in the White River. You just dug a pit and threw Shanjue and the others in.”

If this cub wasn’t his mate’s child, Gen would have loved to toss her into the White River and let the current take her away.

She threw the cubs into a pit of water, calling it “cooling off and playing.” Luckily, the tribe noticed in time and rescued the cubs.

Otherwise, the future of the Heluo tribe…

Nan Feng would have single-handedly wiped them out.

Even outsiders wouldn’t dare claim they could wipe out the Heluo tribe, but Nan Feng almost did it.

She nearly cut off the tribe’s future.

That time, Gen gave Nan Feng a good beating. She was stuck in the beast den for seven or eight days before she could get up and go outside for some air.

Changxia had no idea about this incident.

After all, when it happened, Changxia was lying in the beast den recuperating. Thankfully, Nan Feng had some sense and didn’t drag Changxia into her mischief that time.

Otherwise, a beating wouldn’t have been enough to settle things.

“Nan Feng, you took Shanjue and the others to bathe in the White River?” Changxia looked at her with a complicated expression. It would be a miracle if she didn’t get beaten for that.

The tribe always valued their cubs. Even Elder Pukang was forced to step down for almost leading Shanjue and the others astray, let alone Nan Feng taking them to the White River. If the river had swept them away or they’d drowned…

The consequences were too terrifying to even imagine.

Nan Feng gave a sheepish laugh and protested, “No, I wouldn’t dare take them to the White River. I just dug a pit by the river…”

She must have lost her mind back then.

Afterward, she got a good beating.

Shanjue, along with Wuliu and Luyou, even apologized to her, saying they shouldn’t have been so playful and gotten her in trouble.

Nan Feng was so touched she almost agreed to find a mate and have a well-behaved cub just like them.

“A real warrior!” Chen Rong muttered under his breath.

He used to look down on Nan Feng, but now, Chen Rong had to admit she was the strongest.

The beast tribes were fiercely protective of their young—no joke.

Nan Feng was lucky she survived!

Suddenly, Chen Rong seemed to understand why Gen, Muqin, and the others kept urging Nan Feng to find a mate. Maybe they thought she was a lost cause and wanted her to have a cub to make up for it?

With that thought, Chen Rong looked at Nan Feng with an even stranger expression.

“What are you looking at?” Nan Feng noticed Chen Rong’s weird stare and snapped, “Quit standing around and help with breakfast! We still have to cut mugwort and dig for kudzu roots later. No beast tribe has hunted or gathered in Weishan for ages—there must be all kinds of good stuff hidden here. Let’s hurry and find as much as we can.”

Chen Rong and Changxia exchanged a glance and smiled.

Off to the side, Gen’s resolve to pick out a young male from the tribes only grew stronger.

“The snake tribe cub—?” Gen asked quietly.

Changxia pointed to the pouch at her waist and whispered, “Still asleep.”

Gen smiled, “Cubs should sleep more if they want to grow up strong.”

As he spoke, Gen’s thoughts wandered.

Because of him, relations between the Heluo and Sheyue (Snake Mountain) tribes had gotten a bit tense.

With this recent trouble with the wanderers, the two tribes finally had a chance to meet again. Gen was thinking about how to repair their relationship—there were plenty of good things in the Wangyue Mountains, too. If Changxia wanted to travel through the Twilight Forest, she’d have to go through Wangyue.

Suddenly, Gen’s gaze landed on Nan Feng.

Sacrifice one for the happiness of all.

Maybe this idea could work. But he’d have to see what the Sheyue tribe thought.

“Ugh, so cold—” Nan Feng shivered, rubbing the back of her neck and shooting a glare at Chen Rong out of the corner of her eye.

She was sure that scheming guy was plotting something against her.

She’d felt this chill on her neck before.

“Are you cold?” Changxia asked, puzzled. She looked around but didn’t see any drafts in the stone den. Was Nan Feng getting sick? But her face looked fine…

Chen Rong patted Changxia’s head and said softly, “Don’t mind her. Come wash your face—I’ve got warm water ready for you.”

Last night, Changxia had spread out the mugwort the tribe gathered around the stove.

This morning, when Nan Feng started the fire, she packed up the mugwort and stacked it in the corner of the den. There was so much that the whole place smelled of mugwort.

Gen and Nan Feng barely slept all night.

Even in their dreams, they were gagging. When Gelei and the others went out, Gen wanted to go too, but he was too drained and decided to stay behind.

“Chen Rong, do you still have any of that ointment you gave Changxia yesterday?” Nan Feng asked.

“I do. Do you want some?” Chen Rong nodded. The cooling ointment was refreshing and relieved itching. He figured Nan Feng must have gotten bitten by bugs last night.

Nanfeng quickly reached out her hand and said, “Hurry up and give me some! The beast den smells so strongly of mugwort, I’m about to pass out from the fumes.”

Hearing this, Gen, who was nearby, became interested too.

He leaned over and snatched the ointment from Nanfeng’s hand.

“It feels cool—what kind of ointment is this?” Gen dabbed a bit and rubbed it between his nose and mouth, then smeared some on his temples. Instantly, his groggy head felt much clearer.

Nanfeng glared at her father, too angry to speak.

“It’s a cooling balm. I made it with mint,” Shen Rong explained.

Gen grinned, “This is good stuff! Do you have more? Give me a box.”

“There’s more at home. When we get back to the Baihu cave, I’ll bring two boxes to the chief,” Shen Rong agreed readily.

“Dad—” Nanfeng called out in a plaintive tone. Had he forgotten that she was the one who’d asked Shen Rong for the balm in the first place? Now that he’d used it up and was still hogging it, wasn’t that a bit much? Once they got back to the tribe, she’d have to tell Mom about this.

Gen glanced at Nanfeng and handed the balm back to her.

Compared to Changxia, Nanfeng was like a leaky, black-hearted cotton blanket—she couldn’t keep anyone warm, and might even freeze herself.

After washing her face, Changxia watched as Shen Rong opened the stone door.

Outside, several rattan baskets were stacked up, filled with kudzu roots they’d dug up yesterday.

“Nanfeng, let’s steam some kudzu root to eat later,” Changxia suggested. The kudzu roots from Weishan were as thick as her arm at the smallest, and as thick as her thigh at the largest.

Just looking at them was delightful.

Unfortunately, kudzu starch couldn’t be a staple food.

“Sounds good!” Nanfeng replied.

She walked over to the baskets, picked out a few kudzu roots about a meter long, planning to wash, chop, and steam them.

With little else to eat, kudzu root made a decent snack.

“Changxia, come see what we’ve hunted!”

Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside. Fenghuo was carrying a deer toward the stone beast den. Deer were clever and rarely seen in the forest, usually sticking to the grasslands. It was rare to see deer in the Heluo tribe’s territory, no wonder Fenghuo was so excited.

“A deer—!”

“Yes, a deer!”

Fenghuo hadn’t expected to run into a deer while out digging kudzu and gathering mugwort.

He’d never heard of deer herds in the tribe’s territory before.

“Forest deer are rare,” Gen said. “I remember they’re native to the Wangyue Mountains. Could it have crossed the Wei River to get here?”

“Dad, does it matter where it’s from? Today, we’re in for a treat!” Nanfeng put down the kudzu she was washing, delighted.