TFBAT – Chapter 18

Chi Yuyang turned her head.

It was the first time she had ever seen such a resistant expression on Hu Jin’s face.

There was even a trace of panic in it.

“Clan leader, I… I don’t need to, right?” Hu Jin’s gaze dodged, while holding Chi Yuyang even tighter.

“What kind of class is it exactly?” Chi Yuyang caught a glimpse of Hu Jin’s tail, half-drooped to the ground—it showed just how bad his mood was right now.

“Today isn’t a literacy class, just a general knowledge class,” the clan leader added.

After saying this, he walked out of the cave, with the tiger cubs on the ground following closely behind him.

“Knowledge class?” Chi Yuyang became even more curious at the reply. “Clan leader, can I sit in too?”

“Of course.”

The clan leader’s voice was already drifting away, so Chi Yuyang quickly took Hu Jin’s hand and followed.

“Wife, I…” Hu Jin wanted to say something but stopped.

Before he could finish, he saw the sparkle in Chi Yuyang’s eyes.

She seemed especially stirred by the words “knowledge class.”

Compared to himself, his wife was clearly more important.

Thinking this, Hu Jin instead clasped her hand and led her outside.

Outside on the grassy field, dozens of tiger cubs were sprawled in all directions.

Their fur was light yellow or brownish, each marked with different black stripes.

The moment Hu Zhuo appeared, all the little tigers instantly snapped out of their lazy state and began roaring in unison.

“Aw, aw, aw!” Greetings, clan leader!

Chi Yuyang stepped out of the cave. Her eyes, still adjusting from the dimness inside to the blazing sun outside, were stunned by the sight before her.

Dozens of tiger cubs were lying neatly on the grass, their bodies arranged in a rectangular formation.

At one glance, she could tell each row and column had the same number of tigers.

Their front paws tucked under their chests, their heads swayed slightly, eyes all focused on the clan leader standing at the front.

It was exactly like students sitting in their assigned seats in a classroom, waiting for the teacher to start.

And the clan leader had just called this “class.”

“This is the clan leader teaching the young tigers,” Hu Jin said as he pulled Chi Yuyang into a corner seat at the very back.

The moment she sat down, she noticed a few tiger cubs turning their heads toward them.

She sharply sensed there was a probing look in their gazes.

It wasn’t a very comfortable feeling.

Chi Yuyang tilted her head and looked at Hu Jin.

One arm was around her, the other propping up his head, looking relaxed.

Yet Chi Yuyang still felt there was something odd about him.

Especially his tail—not proudly upright as usual.

Right now, that long, snow-white tail of his was lying weakly on the ground.

“Today, we will be talking about the Snake Tribe beastmen.”

At that moment, the clan leader’s booming, commanding voice rolled across the field, pulling Chi Yuyang’s attention to him at once.

“Unlike us tigers, the Snake Tribe beastmen inherit ancestral memories…”

Chi Yuyang had to admit, Hu Zhuo’s way of teaching was dry and monotonous.

In her twenty years of life, she had never met a teacher who could make knowledge sound this boring.

But nearly half an hour went by, and not a single tiger dared to fidget or wander off.

…That must be the clan leader’s authority.

Except for a few cubs, who occasionally turned their heads to look at the two of them.

Then they would quickly look away, pretending nothing had happened.

Childish.

Chi Yuyang secretly stifled a yawn.

If not for wanting to learn more about this world—and since Hu Jin couldn’t answer all her questions—she would never have bothered to…

Wait.

“Hu Jin, did you also attend these lessons when you were young?” Chi Yuyang pressed down on his hand, which was fidgeting with her fingers.

Clearly, he wasn’t listening at all, just playing with her hand.

“Yeah.” Hu Jin nodded, still wearing that indifferent expression.

“And literacy classes too?” Even though Chi Yuyang lowered her voice, a few cubs sitting close by still couldn’t help but glance back at them.

But Chi Yuyang didn’t think it was because they were whispering.

Even when the two of them sat in silence, there would still be cubs turning their heads to look.

“Mm.” Hu Jin lifted his gaze, shooting a warning look at the few who were staring.

At the same time, Chi Yuyang closed her mouth.

In her mind, a thought was starting to take shape.

—

“Awoo, awoo, awooo!”

She didn’t know how much time had passed when a chorus of tiger roars suddenly came from not far away.

“Class dismissed,” Hu Zhuo announced the end of today’s lesson.

Before Chi Yuyang could even get a clear look at the cubs, Hu Jin scooped her up into his arms and carried her back into the clan leader’s cave.

“…” Completely helpless, Chi Yuyang lightly pounded Hu Jin’s chest. “What’s wrong with you today?”

The fire inside the cave had already burned out, so she could only rely on the faint light from outside as she met his gaze.

His eyes held no obvious emotion.

Yet Chi Yuyang still felt he wasn’t happy.

“You little cub, still hate studying so much.” The clan leader’s voice suddenly came from behind, as he walked back into the cave.

Interrupting Chi Yuyang’s questioning.

“Maybe you’re just not cut out for studying,” the clan leader sighed.

Hu Jin not cut out for studying?

Chi Yuyang didn’t think so.

She had known for a long time that Hu Jin could read.

Back when they first met, while still in cub form, he had spelled out the words for fire and wood using cat food.

Later, when she asked which character his name “Jin” was, he had only written the radical 王 (king).

Chi Yuyang had been stunned for a while back then.

She waited for him to add the other part—whether it was 景 (jing) or 堇 (jin).

But Hu Jin just said he couldn’t remember, only that “Jin” meant fine jade.

That was how she learned his name.

Then Hu Jin explained he could only write simple characters.

Generally, those with no more than five strokes.

At the time, Chi Yuyang believed him.

Until she taught him how to write her own name.

He only looked once before memorizing it.

The three characters “Chi Yuyang,” written carefully by Hu Jin with a stick in the dirt, were neat and pleasing to the eye.

And judging by his past actions, Chi Yuyang was certain of one thing: Hu Jin’s learning ability was actually very strong.

Maybe he truly didn’t like studying, but however you looked at it, Hu Jin was definitely cut out for it.

Hu Jin himself hadn’t said a word, so Chi Yuyang didn’t really have a position to refute.

“Hu Jin, put me down first.” Chi Yuyang whispered beside his ear.

Being carried like this in front of an elder, in a princess-carry no less, was just too strange.

“No.” Hu Jin finally spoke.

Seeing him act so stubborn made Chi Yuyang’s heart twist a little.

“Clan Leader, about the ape tribe matter, can we talk tomorrow instead?” Chi Yuyang gave Hu Zhuo an apologetic smile.

“No rush. This old man has plenty of time.” Hu Zhuo nodded, stepping aside to give them space.

“Then let’s go, Hu Jin.” Chi Yuyang wrapped her arms around his neck, giving one of his half-drooping tiger ears a playful squeeze. “Back to your home in the tiger tribe.”

Which meant the cave he used to live in.

On the way, Hu Jin didn’t change back into his beast form.

He just stubbornly carried Chi Yuyang the entire way.

At first, Chi Yuyang thought his place must be close to the clan leader’s cave.

But when the sun gradually began to sink westward, and Hu Jin was still walking silently at the same steady pace, Chi Yuyang finally spoke up.

“Hu Jin, don’t tell me… you’re lost?”

Though the chance was small.

After all, he had left the tribe as an adult. His own scent markers around his territory might have faded.

And the scenery all along the way hardly seemed to change.

“My cave is at the very edge of the tribe.” Hu Jin forced a smile that wasn’t really a smile.

“Hu Jin, you—”

“We’re here.” Hu Jin suddenly cut her off.

With that, he gently set Chi Yuyang down.

“Wife, go inside first. There’s wood for a fire. I’ll go hunt.” At the same time, Hu Jin took away the empty mineral water bottle from her hand.

He knew Chi Yuyang used it to carry water when they traveled.

Watching his departing figure, Chi Yuyang caught a faint loneliness in his back.

She shook her head, pushing away the urge to follow.

If she tagged along now, she’d only get in his way.

So, Chi Yuyang quickly stepped into the cave.

She started a fire first, then looked around the place.

There were a few logs stacked inside. Other than that, nothing.

She remembered that the clan leader’s cave, though not full of things, at least had piles of furs and fruits of all kinds.

According to Hu Jin, the fruits in this forest weren’t just for eating—many, like the tooth-fruit, had special properties.

Most beastmen kept a few stored in their homes.

But this cave looked like nothing more than a stopover shelter.

Thinking back to Hu Jin’s strange behavior earlier in class—no, even since he returned to the tribe—Chi Yuyang’s suspicion grew clearer.

“Awoo.”

And when she saw the white tiger walking toward her with prey in its jaws, her thought solidified.

“Hu Jin, you once said you had three brothers?” Chi Yuyang wanted to confirm something. “Are they white tigers too?”

Just as he shifted back into human form, his hand holding the animal hide paused at her question.

“No, we’re half-brothers. Same mother, different fathers.”

So only he was a white tiger.

“Hu Jin, you idiot.” Chi Yuyang finally confirmed her suspicion, and her tone grew sharper.

“I’m a white tiger…” Seeing Chi Yuyang’s displeasure, Hu Jin lowered his head in silence. “Wife, don’t be mad.”

“Ever since I was little, I looked different from the other tigers. During the clan leader’s lessons, everyone would stare at me… So later, I just stopped going.”

Among dozens of little golden tiger cubs, he was the only white one—it was impossible not to draw stares.

“My own brothers didn’t like me either.”

They even wanted him dead.

After a pause, he continued: “The other cubs the clan leader adopted, it was because they’d lost their parents. But I was abandoned by my mother.”

“I’m an outcast of the tiger tribe.”

“I’m not even from the tiger tribe,” Chi Yuyang grew more annoyed the more she listened. She really didn’t understand what nonsense filled this tiger’s head.

“But I am an outcast.” Hu Jin added softly. “That’s what they all say.”

“Then why did you bring me to the tiger tribe?” Chi Yuyang almost laughed in exasperation. “Just so you could sulk here?”

He clearly knew bringing her here would lead to all this. Yet he still did.

And then dragged her into brooding with him.

“I wanted the clan leader to meet you.” Hu Jin looked confused why she was laughing. “He said, if I ever had a mate, I must bring her to see him.”

“Did he also tell you that if someone is truly a mate, they won’t care whether the other is an outcast or not?”

Chi Yuyang felt the word mate sounded somewhat foreign to her.

So she decided to put it another way.

“And besides—I really like white tigers.”

In every possible sense.