RPS – Chapter 34 A New Tribe

Bu and Nuo came back just as Li Feng finished cooking. Nuo leaned in close and said, “Li Feng, did you get bitten by a bug?”—drawing out the last word teasingly.

Li Feng shot him a glare. He was clearly asking just to poke fun. Little Mo had already asked him several times today, and he didn’t even know how to respond. All he could do was glare at Li. It’s all your fault! But the warning didn’t work—instead, it prompted Li to tease him even more, right in front of Mo, who blinked curiously at them.

In the end, Li Feng kicked Li several times to get him to back off. Seriously, corrupting the kid like that. They didn’t even have proper clothes here, yet his chest and body were full of kiss marks. So embarrassing! Why hadn’t he stopped this guy when they were rolling around on those beast skins? How could he have let him go wild like that?

“Hey, don’t you dare come at me again!” Li Feng warned Nuo. “Otherwise, there’ll be no food for you!” That line always worked—everyone had basically turned into foodies now, especially Nuo.

“Pfft, always using that line.” Nuo pouted but gave up on teasing Li Feng for the sake of good food.

“Let me tell you something—we rescued someone during today’s hunt. The chief took him in. Seems like something’s going on.” Nuo trailed after Li Feng, sneaking pieces of sliced meat when he could.

“What? He’s not from our tribe?” Li Feng batted his hand away and moved the plate out of reach. The chief took in someone from another tribe?

“Of course not. No idea where he’s from. He was badly injured and couldn’t even talk—looked like he was attacked by wolves, but there were some other injuries too. We didn’t get a good look before the chief took him away.” Nuo chewed the meat in his mouth, satisfied. Mmm, so tasty—one more piece.

Li Feng dodged his thieving hands with the plate in tow. It had nothing to do with them, anyway. Probably someone who got separated from another tribe and got attacked by wolves in the mountains. As long as it wasn’t serious, they could just go about their own lives. The chief would handle whoever they rescued.

That night, Li and the others talked about it too. Life in the tribe was gradually improving, and it had been a long time since they’d seen anyone from another tribe. For any tribe to thrive, population was key. Aside from Li Feng, who had been rescued by Li during their migration, everyone else in the tribe was originally from there. Their numbers were already small, and after years of harsh winters, disease, and famine, only about a hundred or two people were left.

Now they’d brought back another man—hopefully, he’d choose to stay, which would be a small addition to the tribe. Though Li Feng wasn’t too concerned with that. He was more focused on improving life at home and, if possible, raising the standard for the whole tribe.

Li and Bu, on the other hand, were really curious about the guy—especially Li, since he hadn’t gone hunting and wanted Bu to give a detailed report. He felt like there was more to the story. From what Bu and the others said, the chief’s expression seemed… different. Hard to describe, but definitely unusual. As the two chatted over dinner, Li Feng rolled his eyes. Seriously? Just rescued someone, what’s the big deal? Why were they so eager to see him—had they never seen a man before?

“Alright, hurry up and eat. If you’re that curious, then just go see for yourself tomorrow,” Li Feng said while biting into a piece of meat, clearly directing the comment at Li.

“Oh, right! How could I forget? Let’s go take a look after dinner then, see what’s really going on!” Li’s eyes sparkled with excitement as he turned to Li Feng.

Li Feng looked at his overly cheerful face and felt a bit awkward. “Go by yourself if you want. I’m not going. What’s there to see…” He scooped a spoonful of milk for the baby and muttered with a pout.

“Hey, what are you being all awkward about? Worried Li might fall for someone else?” Nuo piped up again, up to no good. Li Feng was just too shy—he never said what he was thinking, always acting all conflicted. If you want something, just say it!

“You’re spouting nonsense. Why would I be worried?” Li Feng pretended to wipe milk off the baby’s mouth, but his ears were a little red.

“Li Feng, I won’t fall for anyone else. I just think the chief may have something else in mind. I want to see what’s going on,” Li said seriously, placing a hand on Li Feng’s shoulder. He’d wanted to hold his hand, but Li Feng was holding the baby in one arm and feeding him with the other.

Li Feng didn’t even dare lift his head. Ugh, was that what he meant? Why did it sound more and more like a confession? And Li had to go and say it so seriously! “Alright, hurry up and finish eating. After dinner, we’ll go check it out together.” He paused, then looked at Nuo. “You’re coming too.”

He knew Nuo had been wanting alone time with Bu lately, but so what? He’d teased him earlier, and Li Feng wasn’t above a little pettiness.

Nuo opened his mouth to protest but couldn’t find a good excuse. Li Feng was too cruel! He knew perfectly well that Nuo and Bu had been taking nightly strolls together recently, and yet he still dragged him along. Enjoyed his own sweet romance and didn’t care about his poor single best friend at all. Totally gone bad. Just like what he’d once said about someone else—it actually described Li Feng perfectly now: “has gay love, no brotherly love.” Too accurate. Nowadays, Li listened to whatever Li Feng said, blissfully forgetting his best bro was still single.

After dinner, Li Feng held the baby while Li held Mo’s hand. Bu and Nuo trailed behind them about five meters back, muttering to each other about who-knows-what. Curious, Li Feng perked his ears to eavesdrop, but couldn’t make out anything. He tried stopping to listen, but every time he paused, they went quiet. It annoyed him so much he gave them a few exaggerated eye-rolls.

Thankfully, the chief’s home wasn’t far from where they lived—it was right in the center of the tribe. They arrived after a short walk.

The chief’s house, like theirs, was a large earthen structure, only much bigger—larger than any other home in the tribe. That’s because the chief lived with many children and other tribe members—those who used to live together in the mountain cave and didn’t want their own separate homes.

When Li Feng and the others arrived, the chief’s family was still eating—roasted meat and a soup made of wild vegetables and salted meat. The tribe had learned a variety of cooking methods by now, most of them from Li Feng. The chief quickly invited them inside. Li Feng looked around but didn’t see the injured person Bu had mentioned. Not in a hurry, they all sat on the ground nearby—there weren’t many stools around, and the few stone stools were already taken by the chief’s family.

But they were used to it. Sitting on the floor was normal for them. The chief was nearly finished eating, and after seeing them all seated, he quickly wrapped up and plopped down on the ground as well.

“Bu and the others told you?” the chief asked directly, wasting no time.

“Yeah,” Li nodded.

“Then you came…” The chief trailed off without finishing his question.

“We just wanted to see if there’s anything we can help with,” Li Feng quickly cut in. Li had a tendency to speak bluntly and might say something inappropriate without realizing it.

“Oh, he’s not too badly hurt. He passed out from hunger more than anything,” the chief stood and led them into the back room.

Li Feng followed with the baby in his arms. On the bed, the man was still unconscious—whether asleep or passed out, it was hard to tell. But when Li Feng saw his injuries, he couldn’t help but frown. The man’s body was covered in blood, his wounds unwashed. There were deep bite marks from a wolf and several other injuries of unknown origin. And this was considered not serious? It looked like a critical case to him. He couldn’t imagine what seriously injured would look like by their standards.

“Chief, aren’t you going to clean his wounds?” Li Feng asked, disturbed by the sight. The injuries were so extensive that it was hard to tell where the wounds ended and healthy skin began. Was this really the tribe’s way of rescuing someone?

“He’s not better yet. How can we wash him now?” The chief clearly disagreed with Li Feng.

“But… he just looks so pitiful like this. Cleaning him up might help, right?” Li Feng hesitated to say the real reason—if these wounds weren’t cleaned in this heat, they’d get infected and fester. He didn’t want to say that out loud and get interrogated on how he knew. “Besides, if the dirt’s cleaned out, the wounds might heal faster?”

“Yeah, Chief, what Li Feng said makes sense. Funny how we never thought of that before,” Nuo chimed in. What Li Feng said seemed logical. They used to worry that the smell of blood would attract wild animals, so they would wrap wounds in leaves. Washing the blood off was considered bad for healing, so they’d even smear mud on the wounds to stop the bleeding.

The chief thought for a moment, then nodded. Maybe it would help. After all, they didn’t have any real medical treatment—just relied on toughing it out until their bodies healed on their own.

The chief asked one of the women in his household to bring clean water. When Li Feng saw it, he immediately requested warm water instead—cold water could cause a chill and make things worse. He came up with another excuse for why the water needed to be warm, just to avoid suspicion.

The woman was named Xin. She looked quite sturdy, with a broad frame—not fat, but muscular, like an athlete from Li Feng’s previous life. She was clearly capable, carefully wiping the blood from the man’s body. Once cleaned, he looked far better. The wounds were still vicious-looking, but at least he no longer seemed like he was on the verge of death.

Li Feng hadn’t meant to meddle, but he was genuinely curious—where had this man come from? Since his reincarnation, he’d only known this one tribe. What was the world beyond like? He hadn’t planned on coming, but Li had talked him into it, and now his curiosity was piqued. He just wanted the man to wake up so they could ask some questions—what was the outside world really like? Did civilization exist?

“Xin, has he eaten?” Li asked the woman, who was still cleaning the fur bedding. The chief had mentioned earlier that the man had passed out from hunger. Coupled with his injuries, Li wasn’t sure if he’d eaten since.

“Oh, he had a bit of veggie soup. No meat though. After eating, he fell asleep again. Just before you arrived, actually,” Xin replied. “Zheng carried him back, and I made some soup right away. He’s sleeping soundly now,” she added with a hearty laugh. “If you want to talk to him, it’ll probably have to wait till tomorrow.”

“Oh, no worries. We just came to take a look. Didn’t have any urgent questions,” Li Feng said, noticing the baby in his arms beginning to stir. “Looks like we’ll come back tomorrow. With wounds like that, he won’t be waking up soon anyway.” He smiled as he spoke. Really, they just got a bit curious about the world outside.

“All right, then come again tomorrow,” Xin said as she wrung out the fur bedding. She glanced at the baby nestled in Li Feng’s arms. “Aww, the little one is so cute—getting more handsome by the day.” After drying her hands, she reached over to touch the baby’s chubby cheek.

“Hehe… not really, the baby is still small, it’s hard to tell.” Although Li Feng was being modest with his words, he was beaming with pride inside. Of course his baby was the most adorable one—fair, chubby, and incredibly cute.

They stayed a while longer, watching Xin completely wake the baby, and then even tease Mo quite a bit. These two little ones had their chubby cheeks thoroughly pinched. The baby, likely hungry after waking up and annoyed from being manhandled by Xin’s big hands, started crying loudly.

Li Feng quickly said goodbye to the chief and the others, holding the baby as he hurried home. The baby cried so hard he was running out of breath, his little face flushed red from the effort. It broke their hearts to see him like that. Mo practically ran all the way back, and if Li hadn’t been holding his hand, he probably would’ve gotten lost in his rush. Li tried to carry him, but Mo insisted on running behind Li Feng by himself.

Li Feng fed the baby, then they all washed up a bit before bed. Thankfully, the weather was warm enough for cold baths. Only the baby and little Mo got hot water. Once the family of four was all cleaned up, they climbed into bed to rest. Li Feng let Mo and the baby sleep in the middle, each adult cuddling one child. As for that injured man—well, they’d deal with him tomorrow.

The next day, they went hunting as usual, but returned earlier in the afternoon. Everyone in the tribe was called to gather at the clearing in the center of the village. No one knew what the chief was going to announce.

Li Feng glanced at the others. “Do you know why the chief called us all together so formally?”

“No idea,” the three of them replied, shaking their heads in unison.

“The chief didn’t go hunting today,” Nuo explained. “He just sent Bu and Li with the others and told us to come back early—said he had an announcement.”

Li Feng nodded. It seemed like something big was about to be said, so he waited patiently to hear what Zheng had to announce.

“Everyone quiet down,” Zheng called out, silencing the murmuring crowd. Everyone was curious what this was about. The last time they skipped a full day of hunting for an announcement, it was for the tribe’s mass migration last year. Was it happening again?

Life was good now—they had homes, meat, wild vegetables, and they could store food for winter instead of braving the cold every day. No one wanted to migrate again.

“I’ve gathered everyone here to announce something—no, actually, to ask your opinion,” Zheng said, looking pleased that everyone had quieted down. “You all know we rescued someone yesterday. That person woke up today.”

He called the man forward. Though he still walked a bit unsteadily, the man managed to stand beside Zheng. Everyone looked at the young, weak man curiously, wondering why he was being brought forward.

“Listen up,” Zheng continued. “His name is Ka. He’s from a small nearby tribe. He had wanted to join our tribe but was attacked by wolves. Three people set out from his tribe—he’s the only one left. He’s here to propose an alliance, or rather, to live with us, because his tribe now only has a small number of people left.”

Zheng paused, then quickly added before anyone could speak up, “So I want to ask what everyone thinks—should we allow them to come live with us?”

This sparked a lot of discussion. Some were against it—after all, they didn’t even know if they had enough food for their own tribe this winter. More mouths to feed meant less food for everyone else.

Others argued in favor, saying that more people meant more hands to hunt with. During winter, it would be safer to have more people defending against starving beasts.

Li Feng listened to the chatter around him and couldn’t help but think some people were just selfish, afraid of sharing their food. But as others said, weren’t new people also new strength? He wondered whether Ka’s tribe had more men or women and children. If it was mostly men, there wasn’t much to worry about—they were all strong laborers. But if it was mostly women, elders, and kids, the tribe might push back harder against accepting them, fearing a huge drain on food supplies.

Sure enough, someone asked, “Chief, are the people in his tribe mostly men or women and children?”

The man beside Zheng stepped forward and replied, “Most of the people left in our tribe are women and children. The men all died protecting them during the migration—” He clenched his teeth and spoke slowly, with deep grief and rage, “They were all killed by beasts.”

Zheng already anticipated the tribe’s concerns. As a chief, his job was to ensure his people lived safely and without hunger, but he also wanted to see the tribe grow. He needed to think long-term.

“Even though Ka’s tribe is mostly women and children now,” Zheng said, “once they come, they’ll be part of our family. Their children will be our children.”

His meaning was clear—the kids would be treated as their own, and the women would become potential wives. Their tribe currently had very few women. Most were men—great for hunting and survival, but not for continuing the bloodline. Of course, Li Feng was the exception.

Zheng welcomed the newcomers—this could help the tribe grow. More children meant a stronger future.

After Zheng’s speech, even those who were against the idea began to warm up to it—especially the unmarried men. They were already plotting to be the first to claim a woman when the new group arrived, ready to woo them with food and gifts.

Li Feng was genuinely impressed by the chief. Despite his rough exterior, he clearly had foresight. Ka, too, had remarkable self-control. Though the implication of the chief’s words might’ve been unpleasant, it made sense. Ka saw that this tribe was different—the homes, the food—it was like nothing he had ever seen. This was the kind of place the women and children of his tribe needed to survive.

“I agree, they should come live with us,” Li said, nodding at Li Feng.

“Oh? Are you hoping to find yourself a woman too?” Li Feng narrowed his eyes at him.

“Of course not! How could you think that? I already have you, don’t I? We even have a baby now!” Li quickly reassured him. No way he’d risk a misunderstanding like that—he just wanted to help the tribe grow!

“Hmph, you’d better not.” Hugging the baby, Li Feng didn’t bother listening to the ongoing discussion about how and when to bring Ka’s tribe over. Amid Nuo and the others’ laughter, he huffed his way home—awkward but proud. Even if he was holding the baby and couldn’t puff out his chest, he still held his head high. Try looking for a woman, and you’ll never get back in this house. I’ll even castrate you, he thought fiercely.

“Uncle Li, I’m going home too. I think the baby’s hungry. Uncle Li Feng’s feeding him—I’ll go help. You guys stay and discuss things with the chief.” Little Mo ran after Li Feng, tailing him closely. Nothing the chief had to say was more important than the baby.