Lia walked out of the tent with a gentle smile on his lips.
"Nothing serious happened. Tangtang only needed to get some rest," Lia answered to those people asking about Tangtang's situation.
Those people who didn't know Tangtang's identity were genuinely worried about what happened to the lively and beautiful sub-beast, while the other elders, who believed Tangtang was the Beast God Messenger, were afraid that the Beast God's wrath would fall on their tribe if something serious happened to the sub-beast while in their care.
Lia still doesn't know what happened. He just heard that Tangtang was unconscious and had bruises on his legs. He rushes as soon as possible after treating a sick cub, but based on how lively the two are inside the tent, it shouldn't be too serious.
After dispersing the crowd, Lia went back to the tent, but before entering, he loudly coughed three times. Xue should have heard him and stopped whatever they were doing.
To give Xue and Tangtang time to develop their feelings for each other, Lia sent Hou away. He was worried that his abstinent son would take time to woo the sub-beast, but he didn't expect that in just a few days they would already be intimate.
With his heightened senses, Xue already heard his mother even before entering, but he is unable to stop—no, he does not wish to stop kissing the sub-beast. If the Tangtang didn't push him, he would continue until the sub-beast was breathless again.
When Lia came in again, Tangtang was already sitting on a pile of fur. His face was flushed, and he was even avoiding his gaze. Xue was half kneeling in front of the Tangtang while applying a concoction on the purple bruises on his knees.
"What happened?" Lia asked.
"I tripped," Tangtang lied.
"Why did you lie? Just say that you got excited giving a blowjob to his son?" Ero teased.
'Why don't you say it yourself?' Tangtang angrily retorted.
"If I could, I would even record a video and show it to Lia."
Tangtang clenched his fist, trying to hold back from squishing the red fluffball. Ero laughs heartily without realizing his tragic outcome later in their ward's hand.
"Don't worry, Tangtang. Lia saw the two of you kissing earlier, but he didn't say anything. It means he also likes you," Phi innocently added, which made Ero laugh loudly and Tangtang turn red.
'Ugh!' Tangtang knew that was the case. Why would Lia cough that loud if not to signal them? He felt embarrassed and wanted to find a hole to bury himself. He used to play around, but he was discreet about it with others.
Lia confirmed that Tangtang's bruises only have discoloration and are a little swollen, a simple injury you wouldn't get if you tripped in the forest, but he didn't expose the sub-beast's lie. He just advised Tangtang to rest early and not move too much.
Tangtang hurriedly stood up and bid farewell to Lia, but before he could take a step, Xue lifted the sub-beast, carried their things, and left. Leaving Lia stunned, he didn't expect that his always cold and indifferent son would become very considerate of others.
_______________.
"That bitch! Now that Hou was not present, he set his eyes on my Xue," a beautiful brown-haired sub-beast angrily said, stomping his feet as he looked at the man carrying another sub-beast.
Gio was known as the most beautiful sub-beast in the tribe before Tangtang came, but even with that, Xue never spared him an extra glance. He grew up with the twins, and the man has always been cold and aloof since they were kids. In Gio's eyes, Xue was an unattainable existence, but in his heart, he still hoped to marry the man.
"Looking for food was just his excuse to seduce our beasts," Kea maliciously added.
"He was also smiling at my man," a skinny sub-beast exaggeratedly gasped and anxiously looked at the other sub-beasts around him. "Did he also smile at your husbands all the time they crossed paths?"
Kea inwardly rolled his eyes and thought, how could there be anyone who would want to seduce this sub-beast's ugly husband? But he still softly comforts the sub-beast, saying, "Only with each other's support will we prevent him from seducing our men."
"Kea is right!"
Eliciting unanimous agreement from the other sub-beasts, they start to call Tangtang different names and give meaning to everything he does.
"No one knows where he came from. He could have previously belonged to a tribe that is hostile and wants to harm us," Gio said, causing another round of slanders and insults for Tangtang.
"He was trying to gain our trust."
"We need to let the whole tribe know his schemes."
Gio looked at Kea meaningfully.
Like Gio, he hates Tangtang. Kea was already married, but he can't let go of Hou, the man he truly loves. He planned to make the man his second husband, but ever since that sub-beast arrived at the tribe, Hou has openly pursued him and can be seen sticking to him every day.
He felt extreme envy and jealousy.
Kea patiently waited for the selection of the group leader for the annual hunt at Mount Nebo. He knew that Hou would not be chosen because even though he was strong, he was still nothing compared to Xue—not that he doesn't have confidence for Hou, but that was the truth.
He intends to console Hou like he usually does each year, but this time, using a plant called Raya that helps induce estrus, he will seduce the man using his pheromones.
What kind of beast would turn away a sub-beast in heat? The thought of having sex with Hou makes his face flush in excitement.
It doesn't matter if Hou doesn't love him yet. What's important is to get married first before it becomes too late, but Kea doesn't expect Lia to choose Hou as the leader, ruining all of his plans.
"I think he is not—ahh," a timid sub-beast said, but before he could even finish his sentence, Kea pinched his waist, and Gio glared at him.
"What are you trying to say, Pen? Are you siding with him again?"
"Your sister Yan is friends with him, right?" Gio sarcastically asked. "Are you also friends with him now?"
Kea smirked, "If that was the case, then you should have stopped staying with us. We don't need traitors."
Pen looked down and kept quiet. His eyes are on the verge of crying as the other sub-beasts continue slandering Tangtang and scolding him at the same time.
Pen met Tangtang several times and heard him talking to his sister. Tangtang was very different from how they described him. He smiles not only to the beasts but to everyone. He is friendly to females, speaks politely to elders, and plays with the cubs.
Pen wanted to explain for Tangtang, but every time he tried to speak, Gio and Kea would be displeased with him, and they would start threatening him that they would exclude him from their group.
Ero and Phi like gossiping and hanging around the tribe, and they overhear this group of sub-beasts making negative remarks about Tangtang. They were so angry, but they didn't have physical bodies and couldn't personally interfere, or else, with just the flick of their fingers, all of these people would vanish to oblivion.
"Let's remember the ugly faces of these people," Ero angrily said as he repeatedly jumped on the top of Kea's head.
"This kid named Pen is so good. He should stop hanging out with them," Phi said as he rubbed his yellow fur on Pen's furrowed brows.
Inside the tent, Tangtang and Xue were busy preparing to cook. Xue doesn't want to let the sub-beast move, but Tangtang reasons and insists until the beast agrees.
Tangtang was excited to eat food other than meat and boiled red root now that he had the ingredients and tools. A few bruises would not stop him from cooking.
After checking all the current ingredients they found these past few days, Tangtang can now make sautéed vegetables, fried meat, and boiled meat soup.
Xue doesn't let him hold a bone knife. That's why all the cutting and slicing are left to the man while he gives instructions on the side. He asked the man to cut the bitter melon and a one-horned bird-like monster's gizzard and liver into thin slices.
Xue was reluctant at first when Tangtang asked him to cut the innards of the monster. It was not the first time he had tried to eat it, and based on his experience, it tasted awful and smelled foul, but he still followed the sub-beast instructions.
Then he rubs the sliced bitter melon with salt and slightly squeezes the juices. After washing, he soaks it again in the water with salt and sets it aside for a few minutes to lessen its bitterness.
While Xue was slicing the ingredients, Tangtang smashed the chilis he air-dried four days ago, using smooth stones as mortar and pestle.
Tangtang wants to make chili oil; as for the oil, he will be using lard. Although lard was unhealthy, it was the only choice available at the time.
The day before yesterday, he saw Yan digging a hole in the forest. Yan was about to put a lot of white fat and internal organs in the hole. It is the tribe's way of disposing of the unwanted parts of the monsters. He asked for the white fat and processed it into lard.
Tangtang heated a pan, put in the lard, and waited for it to melt. When bubbles start to appear in the oil, he pours it on the ground chili and adds a little salt. Just three simple steps, and he already has the chili oil.
It didn't taste as good as the one on Earth, but at least his cravings for spicy will be satisfied.
He sets aside the chili oil and starts cooking the bitter melon.
Tangtang first sautéed the onions, then he added the liver and gizzard and let it simmer for five minutes. While waiting for the meat to cook, he drained the bitter melon he had set aside earlier. Tangtang also heated another pan for Xue to fry the steak-cut meats he asked the man to make.
Tangtang likes to eat fried food, but he isn't a fan of frying because being splattered with hot oil is painful. Since no one liked to fry, he was constantly assigned to do it while working as a kitchen assistant. Even though he didn't want to, he had no choice but to put up with it.
Tangtang instructed Xue to turn over the meat when it is golden brown. The man would fry several large pieces of meat because Tangtang wanted to cook a portion for Lia, Bei, and some elders he had a good relationship with.
When the gizzard and liver were cooked, Tangtang then put the bitter melon and seasoned it with salt and a little bit of chili oil.
The fragrant smell of the fried meat and sautéed bitter melon wafted out.
Outside the tent, several beasts and females stop in front of Tangtang's tent, smelling the delicious aroma coming out of it.
"Is Tangtang making something?" a petite female asked.
"It smells so delicious!"
"I heard that Tangtang was looking for edible plants in the forest. Didn't he almost get poisoned last time?" a brunette female said.
"Why does he even need to do that?" A chubby female named Tin asked.
"I heard that Tangtang wants to help the tribe have more variety of food," a beast named Gal said.
"Tei told me yesterday that Tangtang found a seed that can be eaten. She said that it tastes delicious, and her cubs like it," the brunette female added.
Tin, who liked to eat, widened his eyes. "Really? What kind of seed is it? Is it really delicious?" she asked excitedly.
"I don't know, but Yan, Tei, and Qiu tasted it themselves."
Another female carrying a cub heard their conversation and joined in. "Tangtang gave some to my child, and he likes it." The female takes out some sunflower seeds and shows them to everyone.