Chapter 508: Chapter 381: Punishment
In the days that followed, Luna Sutton chose a few skillful females from the tribe—Saffron Vance, Belle Summers, Maya Miller, along with two others named Petra and Flora.
She called these women to the east wing room of her courtyard, ready to teach them how to weave cloth.
Next spring, the Insect Tribe would surely deliver a massive amount of silk for trading. There was no way she’d be able to weave it all herself.
This was essentially giving everyone a head start to learn.
She originally hadn’t planned to call Maya Miller. Maya’s hands were indeed clever, but her previous behavior still made Luna a bit uneasy.
But thinking that Maya had already changed her ways and hadn’t caused any trouble recently, she decided to let her join, considering it a chance for her.
Inside the east wing, five females squeezed in at once, and with Luna, the spacious room suddenly felt a bit crowded.
The loom stood alone in the center of the room.
Saffron, Belle, Petra, and Flora were all curiously staring at that strange wooden contraption.
Only Maya, her gaze complicated, glanced at Luna, then quickly dropped her head, nervously twisting her beast skin skirt with her fingers.
She hadn’t expected Luna would call her over—let alone be willing to teach her weaving.
"Look, this is it."
Luna patted the loom, "Next year, the Insect Tribe will bring even more silk. There’s no way I could weave it all alone. Today, I’m gathering you here to teach you how to use this thing and turn silk threads into cloth."
She briefly introduced the loom’s structure—warp, weft, shuttle, heddle.
The women listened, puzzled, only feeling that all those wooden rods and tangled threads made their heads spin.
"Watch closely, this is the key part." Luna sat before the loom and picked up the shuttle. "Your wrists need to be gentle, your movements precise, like this..."
She explained as she demonstrated.
Her slender fingers held the shuttle and deftly passed it through the tightly stretched warp, her movements smooth and flowing—pleasing to watch.
Soon enough, a small stretch of pristine and silky white fabric gradually appeared beneath her fingers.
"Wow, Luna, you’re amazing! You can actually turn this fine, soft silk into cloth. Is there anything in the world you don’t know?"
Saffron’s eyes sparkled as she admired the snow-white silk she had woven, unable to help but exclaim in awe.
She reached out and touched it, finding it soft and smooth to the touch.
It’s easy to imagine—if one made clothes from this silk and wore them, they’d be incredibly comfortable.
"It doesn’t look that hard, does it?"
Petra’s eyes gleamed, her expression eager to try.
Luna chuckled at her words and stood up: "Looks simple, but it’s not easy to master. Come on, take turns and give it a try."
Saffron stepped up first.
She was steady by nature and learned most earnestly.
Though her movements were clumsy and slow, and the shuttle almost got stuck several times, she eventually managed to weave a bit—albeit stumbling.
Next up were Petra and Flora. Both were a bit flustered; their threads kept knotting and tangling, sweat breaking out on their foreheads. The more anxious they got, the messier their hands became.
Luna patiently guided them, helping to untangle their knotted silk threads.
Belle, on the other hand, was naturally talented and quickly grasped the knack, her movements growing more skillful.
Finally, it was Maya’s turn. She seemed nervous, her hands trembling, nearly dropping the shuttle several times.
Luna noticed Maya’s discomfort and smiled gently, "Don’t be nervous. Everyone stumbles when starting out. Practice a few more times and you’ll get it."
Maya looked up at her, let out a light breath.
She was famous for her skilled hands in the tribe, always good at leatherwork and sewing beast skin clothes. She must have gotten too tense and it was throwing off her skills.
She pictured Luna’s movements in her mind, her wrist moving lightly—and the shuttle passed through smoothly.
"I really did it."
Maya was delighted, her face full of joy.
Luna wasn’t surprised, and nodded, "Nicely done, your hands are steady. Remember this feeling, and use just a little less force."
Perhaps the nerves faded, Maya soon got the hang of it, her movements increasingly fluid—before long, she wove a small patch of silk cloth.
"Luna..."
She suddenly stopped, her voice a little choked, "Thank you for teaching me."
Luna waved her hand, "If anyone deserves thanks, it’s your skillful hands."
With that, she let the five of them practice in turns.
She stepped out of the east wing and went straight upstairs to find Zeke Veridian.
She had a system reward—a blueprint for an "Ancient Loom"—in her backpack, and planned to let Zeke build a few looms based on the design.
Among all her beast husbands, Zeke was the most skilled with his hands. The furniture at home had all been crafted by him, following her blueprints.
When she got to the second floor, she found Zeke wasn’t in his room practicing at all, and was momentarily stunned.
She checked the neighboring rooms, only to find Soren Phoenix and Malachi Arcanus were gone too—no idea where they’d gone.
"System, where did they go? I haven’t seen a single one of them."
She puzzledly asked the system inside.
The system replied lazily, "They’re all practicing spells in the back mountain. The forest back there has been blasted into a hornet’s nest—so much so the tribe’s beastmen thought they were under attack."
Luna’s mouth twitched at the reply.
She hadn’t expected these guys to be so diligent, even practicing spells with such commotion.
Well, since they were all training, she wouldn’t disturb them.
She turned and went downstairs, intending to find Lyle Sutton and have him call some carpenters to build several looms according to the blueprint.
The Wolf Tribe didn’t have professional carpenters, but every family made furniture, so it was easy to find beastmen with good woodworking skills.
She went straight to Lyle, handing him the "Ancient Loom Blueprint," "Pa, find a few beastmen with good craftsmanship and make some looms according to this design."
Lyle took the blueprint, puzzled, opened it, and was instantly taken aback. "This is..."
"It’s a loom blueprint."
Luna explained, "With this, the tribe’s women can weave cloth. Silk fabric is soft and breathable—much more comfortable than beast skins."
Lyle couldn’t fully understand the blueprint, but knew the loom was a great invention. "Alright, leave it to me. I’ll go find people right now."
With that, he turned and strode away, quickly assembling a few skilled beastmen to start crafting the looms according to the blueprint.
...
Winged Tiger Tribe, at the new Clan Leader Levi Corbin’s residence.
"It’s been days, why aren’t they back yet?"
Levi paced restlessly inside the wooden cabin, his eyes repeatedly darting to the door.
Harlan Corbin had been gone for ages—he should have returned by now. But there was no sign of him; Levi didn’t know if he’d succeeded or failed.
Thinking of Luna Sutton, who knew so many things and was growing more beautiful, Levi felt itchy with desire.
A female so talented—if he could capture her, the Winged Tiger Tribe would surely rise to another level.
Maybe they’d create more iron tools and weapons.
Then their tribe’s strength would surge, and no one would dare look down on them again.
Suddenly, a beastman barged in, reeling and scrambling: "Clan Leader, something’s wrong! The Royal City’s envoy has arrived with the Beast King’s summons—they’re already at the tribe’s gate. You should go greet them right away!"
Levi was startled. Why would the Royal City’s envoy come to the Winged Tiger Tribe now?
Was it because of Luna Sutton?
It shouldn’t be. They’d acted so secretly—the news couldn’t have leaked.
And even if it had, it seemed impossible for the Royal City to get word so fast and react so quickly.
Suddenly, he remembered the Royal City’s new Beast King, Kian Sterling, who was said to be one of Luna Sutton’s beast husbands, currently staying in the Wolf Tribe.
Levi’s expression grew worse, and a vague sense of foreboding crept in. Still, he could only grit his teeth and go greet them.
No matter why the Royal City had come, he couldn’t show anything amiss—otherwise, he’d seem guilty.
Levi took a deep breath and commanded in a serious tone, "Go, call all the tribespeople out—come with me to welcome the Royal City’s envoy."
With that, he strode out of the cabin, his mind racing through possible outcomes.
If it really was about Luna Sutton and the Royal City was here to demand justice, what should they do?
Deny?
Or push all the blame onto Harlan?
While Levi weighed his options, he saw the Royal City’s envoy had already entered the Winged Tiger Tribe from afar.
The envoy wore a dark beast robe, embroidered with golden beast patterns—a mark of the Royal City’s noble status.
Behind him followed a squad of beastman guards, each broad-shouldered, imposing and fierce.
"We didn’t realize the esteemed envoy was coming—please forgive us for not welcoming you sooner,"
Levi hurried his pace to greet them, his face plastered with a smile.
The Royal City’s envoy cast a cold glance at Levi’s toady face, took out a scroll of beast skin decree from his chest, and announced loudly, "Winged Tiger Tribe colluded with the Swine-Dog Tribe with sinister intent. The Beast King commands: From today, the Winged Tiger Tribe must pay yearly tribute to the Royal City—one thousand beast skins, ten thousand jin of game, twenty jin of salt, fifty carts of copper ore—for ten years."
Levi’s legs nearly buckled. "Envoy, please judge fairly. Our tribe has always been law-abiding, and we have never dealt with the Swine-Dog Tribe. How can there be talk of collusion?"
The envoy couldn’t be bothered to respond or explain, and coldly replied, "Clan Leader Levi, this is the Beast King’s command. If the Beast King gave this order, he certainly has evidence of your collusion. If you have any questions, go explain to the Beast King yourself."
With that, he turned and left with the beastman guards.
