Chapter 17   Priest

translator: xiin

editors: apricot & juurensha

In fact, Zhou Ji was also very surprised. He hadn’t thought that he could eat so much. He even felt that he hadn’t had enough yet and eating another five kilograms wouldn’t be a problem.

However, he didn’t continue to eat. This was Xiong Ye’s food, and it wouldn’t be polite to eat too much of it.

Xiong Ye noticed his hesitation and said, “If you like the elephant bird meat, then eat more. The honey you’ve given me is very precious and can be traded for a lot of meat.”

“I’ve had enough.” Zhou Ji said.

“In that case, you can cook it again tomorrow.” Xiong Ye said. He thought about it, then added, “It’ll spoil if it’s not eaten soon.”

“You can give away part of it.” Zhou Ji said. The original owner of this body’s mother had left behind a lot of salt, and he could help Xiong Ye cure a portion of the meat. Although it was spring now and they probably wouldn’t be short on meat for the next six months, nothing was certain.

“May as well...” Xiong Ye nodded, then suddenly thought of something, “Zhou Ji, can you help me roast another piece of meat? I want to give it to the priest.” Zhou Ji had boiled about three kilograms of meat and roasted fifteen kilos that they had both finished off.

Zhou Ji was aware that there was a priest in the tribe. He had even made it a point to observe the priest for a while and had discovered that this priest who lived in a spacious south-facing cave located under their own cave was a very ordinary old man with no special features.

However, the priest probably served as both a healer and teacher in the tribe. He had a lot of knowledge and was therefore very popular. He also held a high status in the tribe–Xiong He would give the best cut of meat to the priest every time the tribe returned from their collective hunts.

Zhou Ji had no objections to Xiong Ye sending something over to the priest.

The people of this tribe believed in the Beast God and believed that the priest was the Beast God’s spokesperson. Building a good relationship with the priest wouldn’t be bad at all. “You can also give the priest some of this sweet cane.” He pointed at the sugarcane-like plant he had brought back. Zhou Ji had decided to call it sweet cane.

“Alright. I’ll tell Grandpa Priest that it’s from you.” Xiong Ye was very happy.

Zhou Ji laughed once and began to roast the meat again. Xiong Ye took this time to gather up the bones and intestines of the elephant bird as well as the scrap pieces of meat left over from when they had cut up the meat. He then brought all of it to the collective cave, giving it to the elderly and children who lived there.

The tribe’s big stone pots were usually left there. The elderly members of the tribe could use the stone pots to cook and eat those scraps with the children.

There had been no shortage of food in the tribe recently, but nobody would disdain extra food, and everyone enjoyed piping hot soup.

After sending everything over, Xiong Ye scooped up water to wash his hands and returned to the cave where Zhou Ji had already finished roasting the meat.

The piece of meat that Zhou Ji had roasted wasn’t very big and looked to be about two or three kilograms, but he had chosen meat from the elephant bird’s upper thigh and roasted it so that it was glistening with oil. It exuded a sweet fragrance and looked very appetizing. He had also peeled off the outer skin of the sweet cane and set the prepared pieces to the side.

Xiong Ye felt that he could still eat another meal!

However, he didn’t eat anything. He took this roasted piece of elephant bird meat and went to find the priest.

It hadn’t been dark yet when Xiong Ye had returned with the elephant bird, but the sky was dark now. Even so, people in the tribe hadn’t gone to sleep yet; most of them were still eating dinner.

The door of the priest’s cave was closed, but there was light coming out from it.

Xiong Ye knocked on the door. “Grandpa Priest!”

Someone opened the door as soon as Xiong Ye knocked. It was one of the several apprentices that the priest had chosen before the start of winter last year.

The priest had decided to train up a successor last winter. He had inspected all of the children of the tribe and had finally chosen three of them to keep by his side.

The three children, two girls and one boy, were only five or six years old.

“Xiong Ye, you’re here.” After seeing Xiong Ye, the old man seated by the fire smiled as he spoke. He was really quite old; his hair and beard were gray, but his face was kind, and he appeared easy to get along with.

There had been a total of two priests in the Big Bear Tribe. Their previous priest had passed away fifty years ago, and their current priest was already seventy or eighty years old.

If people in the tribe didn’t encounter any accidents, they would generally live to be around sixty or seventy years old, but very few people were able to live that long. Currently, the priest was the oldest person in the tribe.

Yet although he was old, he appeared to be in a much better condition than the elderly who were younger than him. After all, he didn’t need to hunt.

“Grandpa Priest, I brought you some roast meat. It was roasted with honey, and it’s particularly tasty!” Xiong Ye said.

“I heard you caught an elephant bird, but you even managed to find honey?” The priest was rather surprised.

“I wasn’t the one who found the honey. It’s Zhou Ji’s. It should have been left behind for him by his mother.” Xiong Ye said. It wasn’t easy to get honey; not only would any carelessness result in not obtaining any honey, they might even be be stung to death by bees–Someone in their tribe had been stung to death by bees before.

“He actually gave you honey? He’s quite good to you.” The priest accepted the meat in Xiong Ye’s hand as he spoke and took a bite. “It’s very delicious.”

“Zhou Ji roasted it! He also found this type of sweet cane. It’s sweet when eaten.” Xiong Ye handed the sweet cane to the priest.

The priest picked up the sweet cane and bit into it, exclaiming in surprise, “It’s sweet! What does this plant look like? I’m going to record it.”

Xiong Ye said, “It was just a long stalk by the time Zhou Ji brought it back. I didn’t see its original appearance.”

“If you find another one, bring it here and show me, or have Zhou Ji come and talk to me.” The priest said.

“Alright. But he doesn’t like talking to people.” Xiong Ye said.

“I can tell.” The priest nodded. Zhou Ji didn’t know how to walk or talk when he was small, and Zhou Ji’s mother had invited him over to examine him, but he hadn’t been able to discover anything. He actually felt that it was very strange that Zhou Ji had suddenly recovered.

However, Zhou Ji was still the original Zhou Ji; his scent and other features hadn’t changed... He had probably received the Beast God’s blessing and gotten better.

Well, in fact, he hadn’t improved by much. It was just that he wasn’t as silly as he’d been before.

“It’ll be time for the Beast God Sacrifice in ten days. Are you still going to hold a mating ceremony?” The priest asked while eating the roast meat. He liked Xiong Ye a lot and had even wanted him to be his successor, but unfortunately, Xiong Ye didn’t want to stay in a cave all day.

It had been the same for Xiong He, who he had also trained up. In the end though, he’d gone off to become the tribal chief just when he had finally learned enough...

So this time, he had specifically selected three children to teach. He also kept them by his side so that at least one of them could be trained up properly.

“No.” Xiong Ye replied. He suddenly realized that while he had still been thinking about Shi Li constantly just a few days ago, Shi Li hadn’t showed up in his thoughts that often over the past few days...

“Don’t be sad. Without Shi Li, you might even find a better mate in the future.” The priest smiled. Compared to Shi Li, he much preferred Xiong Ye who he had watched grow up and would naturally be on Xiong Ye’s side.

“Grandpa Priest. Do the people outside all find partners and become mates?” Xiong Ye asked.

“Of course.” The priest said, “They will form a family with their partners and raise their children together... My teacher told me about this.”

Xiong Ye really liked the life that the priest described, but the people in their tribe weren’t used to forming mated pairs, and very few people would choose to do so.

However, even if that was the case, he wanted a mate of his own who wouldn’t switch to being with someone else in the blink of an eye.

Xiong Ye was in a much better mood after chatting with the priest and happily returned to his cave.

There was a fragrant smell of herbal medicine in his cave, and Zhou Ji had already gone to sleep. Xiong Ye kept his movements light as he went to his own nest, falling asleep not long after he lay down.

Zhou Ji got up after Xiong Ye fell asleep.

After making sure that Xiong Ye was asleep, Zhou Ji used his spiritual powers to draw in energy from their surroundings and directed this energy closer to Xiong Ye’s body.

After the energy entered Xiong Ye’s body, it began to rush around everywhere, and only a small portion of it went into the crystal core in Xiong Ye’s body. Zhou Ji thought for a moment, then focused the energy near Xiong Ye’s wound.

The originally grim-looking wound slowly began to heal.

Zhou Ji didn’t do much else. Seeing that the wound looked better, he released his control and went back to sleep.

The people of this world didn’t know how to use the energy that was everywhere in their surroundings, nor did they have the ability to utilize it.

It was different for Zhou Ji. He hadn’t been here for long before he discovered the abundant energy around him. He also knew how to make use of the energy and could make himself, or any beastman, stronger.

However, he had no intention of speaking out. The ecology here was balanced; who knew what would happen in the future if he intervened too much and destroyed the ecological balance?

It would be terrible if another apocalypse occurred!

What’s more, he could use this energy due to his psychic powers, but the beastmen here didn’t have spiritual powers and were fundamentally unable to use the energy around them.

Zhou Ji soon set this matter aside and stopped thinking about it.

He had only enjoyed a leisurely life for a little over a month and didn’t want to exert himself at all; he could consider those things later.

Zhou Ji lay down in his own bed and fell asleep again. Or rather, he began to cultivate again.

At the same time, Shi Li was also cultivating in Lang Yin’s cave.

It wasn’t easy to cultivate, and he had to be patient. When he and Xiong Ye had discovered the method for cultivation in that cave back then, he hadn’t been patient enough to truly cultivate, so it had only resulted in a limited effect. Later on, after Xiong Ye cultivated more and found it useful, Shi Li had begun to cultivate again.

After that, he and Xiong Ye became stronger and stronger.

It was only later that he discovered that when beastmen grew more powerful, they could actually become Beast Kings!

Others had become Beast Kings through eating something by chance under the right circumstances, but it was different for him and Xiong Ye. What they had was the cultivation method that could make any beastman into a Beast King! How valuable was that?

Now that he was starting over and had his previous experience to work with, Shi Li was more conscientious and careful as he began to cultivate again.

Lang Yin was a little irritated when she saw Shi Li like this.

She didn’t have any plans to become mates with Shi Li and be partners forever, but she had intended to at least spend the next few years with Shi Li when she had extended her invitation to him. She had wanted to have one or two children with Shi Li, but Shi Li’s performance was too disappointing!

Unexpectedly, Shi Li just slept at home every day! Apart from the tribe’s collective hunts, he hardly went out at all!

When Lang Yin didn’t have to hunt, she would still go out to forage and bring back something small to eat. Shi Li actually just lay there at home!

Lang Yin could now basically understand why Xiong Ye had gotten into a fight and broken up with Shi Li just when they were about to go through the ceremony and become mates. She also didn’t want a man who didn’t talk to her and didn’t do anything else but sleep all day long!

If it weren’t for Shi Li’s good looks and his powerful animal form, Lang Yin wouldn’t even want to have a baby with him anymore.

Lang Yin had been indulged since she was young. She wanted to go and wake Shi Li up, but Shi Li had been very fierce when she’d done that before so she hadn’t tried to do it again. She was depressed as she found a corner in her cave to sleep in.

As a result, Lang Yin discovered that Shi Li was eating the meat she’d saved up as soon as she woke up!

Shi Li actually went so far as to eat the meat she’d saved!

Lang Yin was instantly enraged, “You’re actually eating my meat!”

“So what?” Shi Li was puzzled. What was wrong with eating a bit of Lang Yin’s meat when he was hungry? He even felt that the meat tasted bad because it had already been set aside for a few days!

xiin: oh here’s a question

the sugarcane like thing that ZJ found

he decided to name it 甜杆 .. sweet/sugar pole/shaft/rod/staff/cane??

my brain fell into the gutter again

should i just call it sweet cane

juurensha: ahahaaha

lick the sweet shaft

xiin: SEE?!?!?!

juurensha: probably should just call it sweet cane

juurensha: Lang Yin, it’s now your turn to kick Shi Li to the curb.