CH 48

The monster that Tooth illustrated made it hard for the others to believe that it could shred apart a reindeer.

There was a crack in the solemn atmosphere.

In the end, the beastmen still refused to believe that there was a fiercer creature than them out there.

Unreliable artist Tooth and his sketchpad were immediately abandoned. Only Black and White still held interest in his drawing.

When everyone else left, Black leaned over and tried to get the portrait of Louis from Tooth.

“No, don’t ignore it. Tooth’s drawing is actually very similar to those monsters.” Sita shook her head. She understood those beastmen, and could also understand their line of thought.

“Before I met those monsters, I also had a lot of confidence in my strength.” She raised her voice, trying to get everyone to listen to her

“Fendi, when you’re in your original form, can you press me down?” Sita looked at Fendi who seemed to relax slightly.

“You… I… Why would I press down on you for no good reason?” His thoughts drifting in the wrong direction, Fendi stammered.

“If we only consider strength, will you be able to press me down?” Sita’s expression was still oddly serious.

Looking at her expression, Fendi also got serious. He thought for a while, before shaking his head.

“You’re too tall for me to do that.”

“Then are you able to jump onto my body? Sita continued asking.

Once again, Fendi shook his head.

Sita looked around at everyone.

“In our tribe, is there anyone who can press me down? Or jump up to my back?”

Everyone shook their heads.

Everyone thought to themselves: It is precisely because no one can do that, that you are still a pure girl[1]~

The corner of Sita’s mouth twitched.

“But those monsters could!”

“… They weren’t very tall, probably just half my height. But they moved very quickly! Their forelimbs were really short, and their hind legs were long and had explosive strength! Their teeth were much sharper than Fendi’s too. Although I was much taller than those creatures, they ran too quickly! Their jumping power was also shocking, and in the end, one of the monsters jumped onto my back–”

Listening up to here, everyone took a deep breath.

Sita turned her body to show the wound on her lower back left by the monsters.

“This was only caused by their claws.”

The wound was a startling sight, if this wound was already so deep on a mammoth’s large body, what would happen if it was any other beastman…

It would definitely be a horrible sight.

The faces of the many beastmen present sank– This was exactly Sita’s intention.

Perceiving that everyone had started taking this seriously, Sita turned to look at Black’s family who were still carving portraits with Tooth.

“Thank goodness for Black and White, for coming to save me.” Sita’s eyes were full of gratitude.

Hearing her words, everyone started looking at them with different eyes.

“Those monsters were driven away by the fire they started! I think we can think of other ways to defend against those monsters from this!” Sita shared extremely important information.

In the end, the tribe chief Salle halted everyone’s discussion with a roar. 

He announced: Before finding a better way to deal with these unknown monsters, the Vash Tribe would be setting fires around their perimeter as much as possible. Hunting had to continue, but they would decrease the area where they would hunt, and get more people to patrol at night.

***

Andy felt a little uneasy.

Usually, at this time, he would be taking a bath. The faint scent of urine on his body annoyed him for the entire day. He managed to hunt enough prey after some difficulty just so he could return early, but who knew this would happen.

A monster actually appeared in this area!

The moment he knew of the monster’s existence, he couldn’t sit still.

In the end, after knowing that his name wasn’t included on the patrol list, he snuck out of the tribe.

Andy didn’t tell anyone, but he actually had someone he liked outside the tribe. It was a little hard to say this, but the person he liked was actually a male just like him.

The person Andy liked was called Xue Hua[2]. He lived near the border of the tribe. 

Andy went there coincidentally when he was chasing a prey. There, he met Xiao Hua [3] who was eating some Crunchy Grass.

Everytime he went there to hunt, he would see Xiao Hua continuously munching on Crunchy Grass at the other side. This made Andy think, wow, this guy could really eat.

Eventually, he started thinking, this guy is so cute~

Even later, Andy started going to him to eat Crunchy Grass together.

Until now, Xiao Hua still thought that Andy was like him, a herbivore ==///

From his speech, Andy could tell he was repulsed by carnivores. This made it hard for Andy to come to the decision of revealing his own identity.

But now that the monsters appeared, he only felt regret.

He really should’ve brought Xiao Hua back to the tribe earlier!

Xiao Hua, who’s so gentle, and so cute–

Andy, in his original form of a lion, was extremely fast. Before he knew it, he was already far away from the tribe.

Seeing the Crunchy Grass grow thicker, Andy knew that he was getting close to Xiao Hua’s house.

By the time he realised that something was not right, he was already targeted. Someone was chasing after him!

Andy knew that he was moving very quickly, but this person’s speed didn’t lose out to him, and was even possibly running more relaxedly than him!

Andy hadn’t felt this way in years.

The feeling of even the tiniest hairs on his body standing up.

The rapid footsteps slowed down, and Andy turned back to take a look.

Then he finally saw what was chasing after him.

His pupils dilated. At that moment, he could only think of two words.

A monster–

Moonlight reflected off the snowy ground, clearly illuminating the features of the four monsters. They were a species Andy had never seen before!

They stood still, not far from him. Andy’s good vision allowed him to easily see their dense sharp teeth. There was no emotion in the monsters’ eyes, only inorganic pitch blackness.

Andy instinctively knew that they had their eyes on him. They were currently motionless, but were assessing where to start with. The moment their prey got frightened and wanted to flee, they would immediately start the chase, and give their prey no way out!

Right now, Andy could understand the thoughts of those monsters very well. Because this was what he would do when he hunted.

He couldn’t win! Definitely not!

A beast’s instinct immediately told him what was most likely going to happen. The chill from the ice under him crept up his legs, slowly spreading across his whole body.

But he still had to do something.

This place was too close to Xiao Hua’s home. He couldn’t let these monsters notice him.

Andy tightened the muscles on his body. Along with his motions, he noticed the monsters opposite also moving slightly.

Very good, it seems like the others have made their preparations.

And right now–

Run!

Andy leaped away!

Almost at the same time, those monsters also pounced over–

Andy ran desperately.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he felt his muscles tense up extremely. This was the fastest he could run!

The monsters pounced on empty space, but very quickly, they continued chasing after him, undiscouraged.

Time seemed to pass very slowly. He didn’t know how long he had been running, but Andy suddenly felt a burst of sharp pain from his stomach!

The pain at his abdomen caused his legs to spasm. At that moment, Andy lost his balance, and fell heavily on the ground.

Xiao Hua…

His vision went white, and Andy muttered the name of the one he liked…

One of the monsters stepped on his body.

Their saliva dripped onto him as they leaned over.

Andy shut his eyes.

Just when he was prepared for the pain of being ripped apart, he suddenly felt lighter. The monster let go of him.

A piercing screech was heard from the monster’s mouth. Andy hurriedly opened his eyes, only to witness something strange. Those monsters actually retreated!

The next second, they actually ran away!

Looking at their retreating figures with wide eyes, they could even be said to be escaping after a defeat!

Was there something scary on him? Andy couldn’t understand, but he knew that he was safe for now.

“Safe”. This word was like a signal that was immediately transmitted throughout his body. He transformed into humanoid form and slumped onto the snow with his body forming a “大” shape.

A few seconds before his consciousness sank into darkness, he thought he heard the voice of heaven.

“Andy?” Xiao Hua softly called him.

Andy completely plunged into darkness.

When he woke up, the first person he saw was the one he yearned for day and night.

The silver haired young man looked at him tenderly.

By reflex, Andy tightly gripped Xue Hua’s hand.

“Why did you come by so late today?” Xiao Hua lightly returned the grip.

Andy quietly looked at the young man before him. The warmth from his hands was so gentle…

He wanted to tell him about the dangers, to tell him to leave with him. He had many things he wanted to say, but after what he’d been through, he realised that these were not what he wanted to say the most.

Andy looked solemnly into Xiao Hua’s eyes, “I’ve wanted to say this for very long, I…”

“I like you!”

Only when he was in the face of death did Andy realise that his last regret was not confessing to Xiao Hua. 

This was his first time falling for someone. Although they were both males, liking was liking. If he did not tell the other about his feelings, it would be a huge pity.

Even if his palms were sweaty from his anxiety, Andy bravely looked straight at Xiao Hua, not evading his sight.

Then he saw unparalleled joy in the green eyes of the silver haired youth.

The youth didn’t reply, only using his actions to show his joy.

Xiao Hua tightly embraced Andy.

Andy stiffly enjoyed the embrace. This was his first time getting so close to Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua emitted an indescribable fragrance from his body. After sitting stiffly for a while, Andy tried returning the embrace.

“Xiao Hua, let’s be together!”

“Alright.”

“Return to my tribe with me!”

“Alright.”

“Why aren’t you asking anything?”

“I’m not asking. I just want to be with you.” Xiao Hua’s low laughter sounded next to his ear, causing Andy’s face to slowly turn red.

“Okay.” Andy couldn’t help tightening his arms around him.

They spent a while at that spot being lovey dovey.

When dawn came, Xiao Hua packed his things into a small leather sack, before leaving his house with Andy.

The journey back to the tribe was very smooth, and they reached in half a day’s time. 

What greeted them back at the tribe was Sita’s anger which was even more fearsome than monsters!

“… You already know that there are monsters, but you still ran out in the middle of the night! The chief brought a bunch of people out to look for you the entire afternoon. Do you know how dangerous it is right now?!”

Sita, who had a strong life force, only needed a night of sleep before her back injury largely recovered. Now, she was able to teach others a lesson.

“I’m sorry, Andy left because of me…” Xue Hua met the people of the Vash Tribe for the first time while half hidden behind Andy’s back.

Sita, who was about to continue lecturing Andy, froze.

Translator has something to say:

VIP chapters start here, and are mostly double the length of previous chapters…

I fear for my future. Let’s pray that I don’t ever run out of stockpiled chapters because god knows if I can catch up to the rate of release

Also, Merry Christmas!

References