The entire tribe was immersed in a joyful atmosphere.
The hunting team had returned!
Looking at the pile of dying prey lying on the wooden stretchers, a bright smile bloomed on everyone's face. It seemed there was no need to worry about starvation this winter.
The clan chief took inventory of the animal skins, salted meat, and live prey. After distributing an equal amount of live prey to the families of the hunting team members, he ordered the rest to be butchered and then divided equally per capita.
Nyx spoke in a low voice to the clan chief, wanting a demonic bear with four broken legs still gasping for air on the wooden stretcher, lying that he needed a few body parts from it to make medicine. The people in the tribe naturally agreed. Let alone one, if the great priest wanted ten, it would be fine.
Of course, the prerequisite was having ten demonic bears.
Sane received his share of the prey, swept his gaze around, and as expected, could not find Kaelen's figure. Usually, in these tribal gatherings, unless someone was sent to call him, that Sub-Beast would never appear.
When the individual portions of prey were distributed, the rest were processed and stored in the tribe's warehouse for emergencies. Animal skins and fangs were also gathered, waiting for next spring to be traded for salt and some necessary items.
Looking at this amount of fur and skin, the clan chief smiled so widely his eyes practically vanished. With this much, they could definitely trade for a good amount of salt, and perhaps even a clay pot!
"Sane, what are you bringing these miscellaneous things back for?" The clan chief glanced at Sane's animal skin bundle, curiously peering inside. Forgive him, he didn't recognize a single thing inside.
The clan chief's question was also the inner thought of the whole hunting team. During this trip, Sane demonstrated completely overwhelming strength. He always used the shortest amount of time to take down the prey, but instead of resting, he would disappear into the dense forest, returning with a pile of bizarre plants and roots.
Pressed by everyone's questions, Sane only replied indifferently: "Thought they looked nice, so I brought them back."
Where did they look nice? The beastmen scratched their heads in confusion, looking at the muddy roots.
"Wofu, bring this portion of meat to Kaelen's house." The clan chief habitually ordered his son.
However, before Wofu's hand could even touch the basket's strap, a large hand reached out and lifted it up. Sane nonchalantly slung the heavy vine basket over his broad shoulder, saying in a deep voice:
"I'll take it. It's on my way anyway."
After saying that, he took long strides and left, carrying bundles big and small, leaving behind a line of beastmen staring blankly at each other. Calculating from the center of the tribe, Sane's cave and Kaelen's cave were in two opposite directions. How exactly was that on the way?
Rylan stood lost among the crowd of young beastmen surrounding him with flattery, his jealous gaze staring fixedly at Sane's back.
Again!
This was already the second time Sane had taken the initiative to approach that ugly Sub-Beast.
Last time by the river could be considered a coincidence, as there were also beast cubs and other beastmen there catching fish, but what about this time?
It was obvious he had never actively taken on jobs like this!
---
When Sane arrived, Kaelen was sitting cross-legged by the wooden table, struggling hard with the stone in his hands. He was still trying to remake the small stone mill.
"What are you doing?"
The voice from behind startled Kaelen. The two pieces of the stone mill in his hands clattered onto the table; one piece rolled off and smashed into his inner thigh, causing his leg excruciating pain. Kaelen could only let out a short "ah" syllable, trembling as he clutched his thigh, tears welling up and spilling from his eyes.
Sane was startled and threw down the pile of things he was holding. He hurried over to pick Kaelen up, placed Kaelen on the wooden tabletop, and squatted down to examine the wound on Kaelen's leg. The struck part of the thigh turned a large patch of bright red, then gradually shifted to a pale purple. That purple bruise printed on the fair skin looked exceptionally gruesome.
Sane furrowed his brows tightly; the large, rough hands that normally specialized in snapping the necks of wild beasts were now clumsy, not daring to touch the wound forcefully. Seeing Kaelen in so much pain that his whole body was trembling, Sane hurriedly picked Kaelen up and quickly ran towards the center of the tribe.
Kaelen was in so much pain that he couldn't distinguish anything happening around him, only hearing the whistling of the wind in his ears as Sane ran at an extremely fast speed.
"Great Priest!"
Sane ignored the countless astonished eyes turning in this direction, carried Kaelen and charged straight to Nyx, saying with a solemn expression:
"A rock smashed into his leg!"
Everyone's expressions changed simultaneously. Nyx hurriedly said, "Bring him in here!"
In the center of the tribe, there was a large, sturdily built animal skin tent, usually used as a meeting place for the high-ranking members of the tribe. Sane carried Kaelen inside, and Draven nimbly spread an animal skin over the stone table in the middle of the tent.
From the moment Sane carried Kaelen in front of the priest, Kaelen had regained a bit of clarity. Even though his leg still hurt a lot, Kaelen still had the time to blush. Being carried swaggeringly by a male right in front of everyone, no matter how critical the situation was, it still felt embarrassing.
Nyx chased the crowd of males outside, leaving only the Sub-Beast Draven to assist. He pushed Kaelen's animal skin skirt to the side, revealing the thigh with a bruise the size of a hand. Over the travel time, the wound had turned from its initial pinkish-purple to a dark charcoal purple, looking incredibly severe at first glance.
Nyx carefully used his hand to press lightly around the bruise. Kaelen was in so much pain that he trembled, but he didn't let out a single sound, gritting his teeth and trying to endure it.
After examining it for a while, Nyx breathed a sigh of relief:
"Thank goodness there are no broken bones, just soft tissue damage. Why is this child so careless?"
Being scolded by the priest, Kaelen felt aggrieved, tears welling up in his eyes. It was clearly Sane's fault for startling he, so why was he the one getting scolded?