Chapter 131: Chapter 131: Aaron’s Spring
Fortunately, not forcing Kaelen to rack his brains to find a way to hide the child, little Oliver ate his fill of the eggshell, let out a burp, placed the remaining eggshell in the basket, and then propped himself up on the edge of the nest to slither out.
Afraid the child would fall, Kaelen hurriedly reached out to catch him. As soon as the baby was picked up by his Papa, he immediately giggled, baring a toothless mouth with only gums. His snake tail wrapped around Kaelen’s arm once, then loosened, flicking Sane’s arm once as well.
Then a purple light flashed, and the snake tail suddenly vanished, turning into a pair of plump, white legs like lotus roots. Fortunately, Sane was quick-witted and grabbed the lining cloth from the bag to cover his son, preventing the newborn boy from exposing himself in the wilderness.
Kaelen breathed a sigh of relief, saying: "Thank goodness the boy can turn his tail into legs; otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to hide it."
Sane nodded: "Let’s observe for now to see if he suddenly turns back into a tail. As for the panther ears and tail, there’s no need to worry; there have been many precedents of Sub-Beasts born without ears and tails."
The two waited for the panther cub to finish eating, then used the remaining lining cloth to wrap the baby. Kaelen carried both children, while Sane helped them carry the nests and the remaining eggshells back.
"Oh, it’s a beastman and a Sub-Beast! Congratulations Chief, congratulations Great Priest!"
"Congratulations Great Chief! Congratulations Great Priest!"
Cheers of congratulations rang out across the entire tribe, the joyous atmosphere spreading to every corner; even the hired workers and slaves couldn’t help but feel happy. A Sub-Beast from the former Cipher tribe was sewing clothes and said to the friend next to him:
"It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a joyous atmosphere. Previously, only when successfully conquering another tribe did the Cipher tribe have such a scene."
The Sub-Beast next to him rubbed the sewing needle against his hair, then nodded: "Yeah, since Nathan became Chief, the beastmen in the clan were allowed to have multiple mates, and the birth of children was no longer important either."
Actually, they really liked their current life. In the past, they lived in constant fear of being chosen as the servant of some warrior beastman, or having to share a husband with another Sub-Beast. Now arriving in Crimson, Crimson’s laws only allowed monogamy, and did not permit married men or women to have affairs with others.
They always had the right to choose their own mates, and no longer worried about their Sub-Beast children being treated as tools to satisfy the lust of beastmen.
The only ones opposing this law were the beastmen accustomed to their overbearing ways in Cipher. In the early days of their arrival, they didn’t even take Crimson’s laws seriously, frequently getting handsy with Sub-Beasts.
Initially, when caught, they were only hit with a few whip lashes and had their food rations cut; they were still not afraid. Until one day, an extremely grave incident occurred. A beastman coerced his former servant, dragging the person into a tent to rape them, causing this Sub-Beast to suffer a miscarriage. At that time, the fresh blood under that Sub-Beast poured out profusely, almost failing to keep the person’s life. Fortunately, the Crimson healers’ medical skills were excellent, and they also enthusiastically treated the person, only then was that Sub-Beast snatched back from death’s door.
As for that beastman, his four limbs were shattered, and he was locked in the dungeon. Waiting until the day that Sub-Beast recovered their health, Captain Walter handed the person a sharp bone knife, letting them personally chop off that beast’s head. That beastman’s head was impaled on a stake, hung in the middle of the slave group’s square until it was picked clean by vultures.
No matter how unresigned the Cipher beastmen were, they didn’t dare do anything too outrageous. It’s just that after that incident, Crimson tribe’s laws added a new clause. Any rule-breaker who dared to violate a Sub-Beast, even at the mildest level like physical touching, would immediately have their arms broken and be thrown outside to fend for themselves. For more severe cases, they would be executed immediately.
Specifically for those who dared to violate a Sub-Beast under seventeen, the sentence of confiscating the ’murder weapon’ would immediately be executed, stuffing it into his mouth and forcing him to eat it all before executing him. Hearing that law, the beastmen all subconsciously clamped their thighs tightly, the thing between their legs unavoidably rising with phantom pain.
After a few rule-breakers were punished, this group of beastmen finally submitted, no longer daring to cause trouble.
But it only stopped there. The rot accumulated since birth had penetrated deep into their marrow; even if they wanted to discard it, they couldn’t. Hearing the good news from the tribe, this crowd couldn’t help but pout, roll their eyes, and whisper insults.
Walter, sharp-eyed, observed everything, memorized all these people, and returned to tell Anthony. Anthony smirked. Still having the energy to look down on Sub-Beasts and cubs, it seemed the work was still too light. He immediately waved his hand, tossing this bunch to dig rocks to build roads. Not only that, he also didn’t give them breaks, forcing them to work exhaustingly from early dawn to pitch dark.
The Cipher beastman crowd was tormented to exhaustion, so tired that their hands holding porridge bowls trembled. Now even if a Sub-Beast stripped naked and twisted right in front of them, they wouldn’t have the energy to look, let alone touch.
After a grueling month like that, on the one-month celebration of the newly born children, Anthony made a special exception, giving them half a day off to prepare for the feast. This beastman crowd cried "boo-hoo", continuously saying, it is so good when a cub is born, wishing a cub was born every day.
Anthony smirked. Hmph! As if I can’t discipline you bastards!
Right at this moment, the horn sound welcoming clansmen back echoed throughout the mountains and forests; Anthony shot up from his armchair. Walter, sitting in the next room, also opened the door and rushed out, laughing as he said:
"Very well, this group truly knows how to pick a day to return. Picking the exact day of Kaelen’s children’s one-month feast, truly lucky~"
Anthony immediately shifted into his beast form, bit Walter’s collar, threw him onto his back, and used his fastest speed to run back to Crimson. Beastmen’s movement speed was very fast; the path through the canyon connecting Obsidian to Crimson only took over an hour of travel.
By the time the two arrived, everyone was already standing on the dirt path behind the tribe waiting for the people. In no time, the flag embroidered with a Lac bird in flames appeared faintly behind the treetops, and gradually, figures appeared clearly.
Leading the procession were none other than Aaron and Asher. Their skin was slightly tanner, a bit more weather-beaten, but the smiles on their lips were brighter and more confident than ever.
Following closely behind their ox carts was a long, endless line of people; some were skinny, some were old and weak, but everyone’s eyes shone with curiosity and awe when seeing Crimson’s massive stone walls for the first time.
"Great Chief! Great Priest! We’re back!" Aaron excitedly waved his hand from afar, jumping up and down on the ox cart, making Evan unable to help but slow down a bit.
Asher glared at him, shooting him a dirty look: "You are a department head; please act the part a bit!"
Aaron pouted: "I’ve always been like this, who dares to have an opinion?"
The procession got closer and closer to the city wall; Sane and Kaelen stepped forward with a smile. In each of their hands was a soft fabric baby carrier. Sane carried the panther cub Finnick, who was yawning constantly, while Kaelen carried the youngest child Oliver, who was sucking his thumb.
Before Asher and Aaron could pay their respects, their gazes bumped into the two baby carriers in front of the two leaders.
"These are...?"
Sane smiled and said: "These are our children. You all returned right on time; tonight is the two little ones’ one-month feast." Saying that, he looked at the procession behind, saying: "It seems we have to increase the food portions; quite a lot of people came, huh?"
Aaron smiled and said: "Of course. Except for one tribe coming as hired workers, the rest are all here to seek refuge. A total of 677 people."
The Sand tribe had 216 people, the Starfall tribe had 14 people, the wandering beastmen and slaves group had 47 people, the Yellow Fruit Forest tribe had 337 people, and the Frostbite tribe had 63 people. Sane swept his gaze over them, seeing everyone looking weather-beaten and tired, and said:
"Temporarily arrange them in the communal dormitory first. You guys drive the supplies straight to the square, then wash up, eat, and rest first; reports can wait."
Handing the tasks over to their subordinates, Asher and Aaron caught up with Kaelen and Sane’s steps. Asher looked at the two little brats on their chests, his eyes turning into heart shapes. He exclaimed:
"I didn’t expect that leaving for over three months, your children have already reached their one-month mark. You are truly amazing, giving birth to two at once."
Kaelen lifted Oliver a bit higher so Asher could see the boy clearly, saying with a slightly sad tone: "It’s three children, but the eldest went missing. We still haven’t been able to find him."
Asher was a bit surprised, but didn’t ask further, afraid of triggering Kaelen’s emotions. He only shared a few interesting things from the journey. He noticed Aaron keeping quiet in the back, seemingly wanting to speak several times but hesitating.
Asher was afraid this guy would stay quiet forever, so he asked Kaelen on Aaron’s behalf:
"Great Priest, in this group there is an acquaintance of Aaron; his situation is a bit poor. Can you see if you can handle his matter first?"
Both Sane and Kaelen raised an eyebrow and stopped walking, simultaneously turning to look at Aaron. Normally, if there was anything, this guy would be the first to jump up. Yet today, having a matter, he had to let Asher speak for him.
Being stared at by the two leaders, Aaron unnaturally turned his face away, his ears slightly reddening. Kaelen mouthed: [What’s wrong?]
Asher smiled slyly: [I’ll tell you later.]
Kaelen was speechless, glancing at Sane. Sane nodded at him; he turned to say to Aaron: "If it’s your acquaintance, as long as you vouch for him, then the tribe will make an exception and grant him the privilege of early admission like Ian."
Aaron still didn’t say anything, only nodding to show he understood, then carrying a face as if suffering from heatstroke, he slipped away in another direction. Asher waited until his figure was out of sight, then giggled and waved at the two leaders, signaling them to hurry up.
Then, after looking left and right for a while, seeing no one who could eavesdrop, he burst into laughter and said: "Aaron’s spring has arrived. It’s just that this fox is vain and refuses to admit it."
He then told Sane and Kaelen about Evan, as well as the complications in the romantic relationship between the two of them. Kaelen raised an eyebrow, looking quite surprised. Normally, Aaron teased the Sub-Beasts in the tribe; he thought Aaron would choose a Sub-Beast mate? He didn’t expect him to have feelings for a beastman.
Asher sighed: "If it weren’t for your novel about two beastmen, I probably would have been very shocked. After all, until now, beastmen and Sub-Beasts have always been the natural order."
Hearing Asher say that, Sane also recalled the content of that book. The two main characters in that book were very tragic; it was Kaelen’s variation of a story between two men in the world of his past life. Discovering they liked someone of the same sex but not daring to make it public, meeting the other person they could only date secretly, and then being discovered by their families.
During that period in Kaelen’s past life, two men loving each other was a major sin. The two main characters, one depressed and committed suicide, the other harbored agonizing torment, going crazy for the rest of his life. Only when the surviving one chose to jump off a building to commit suicide but failed, becoming a vegetative state for life, did the parents regret their prohibition.
They once said, if they could do it over, they would never forbid their son from seeking love again. As long as their son was happy, loving a man or a woman no longer mattered.
In this world as well, love between two beastmen or two Sub-Beasts was a taboo.
Sane knew for sure that even though Kaelen had done ideological work, there would definitely still be people in the tribe who couldn’t adapt.
Aaron and that beastman named Evan wanting to live together for a long time would probably have to go through many hardships.
