Chapter 5: Panthers
Edited and Proofread by: aprilmayagust
When Lu Zhan brought Luo Zhen back to the entrance of the tribe, they met two warriors who were patrolling. Both seemed to know Lu Zhan, but when they saw him coming back from outside the tribe, they were a little surprised by the stranger on his side.
“A-Zhan, did you go outside to pick some fruit again?” One of the older men asked with disapproval when seeing the animal skin in Lu Zhan’s arms.
Lu Zhan shook his head when he heard the words, “This is because the warriors who went hunting have not yet come back. I just picked something up to exchange for it.” Lu Zhan opened the corner of the animal skin so that the two of them could see the contents, “I went a bit farther away, and I picked a lot of fruits. If you like it, I can keep some for you.”
The patrolling man waved his hand, “I don’t have a partner so I don’t need these things. I’ll leave it to those who have partners and children to exchange them with you.” The man said and looked at Luo Zhen who was behind Lu Zhan. He raised his chin slightly and asked Lu Zhan with his eyes how he brought a foreigner back.
Lu Zhan said the previous excuse to the man again, “I’m about to take him to see the chief.”
The man nodded and allowed them into the tribe without asking more questions.
Luo Zhen had never seen such a messy place. Just by stepping into the tribe, the smell of urine was already obvious and there was a lot of feces on both sides of the dirt road that was trampled on, and many flies and insects crawled around. Luo Zhen used a lot of his inner strength to not let himself vomit on the spot.
Looking at Lu Zhan next to him, the other party seemed to be accustomed to these things and stepped forward without stopping. Luo Zhen could only follow carefully when he saw this, for fear that he would step on the feces without paying attention. He knows that he is only walking barefoot, and only his waist is covered by an animal skin skirt.
Although the Panther Tribe is a tribe, it is much more primitive than Luo Zhen imagined. The people here live in tents built with animal skins, which don’t look very big from the outside, and except for a space left in front of the doorway for people to enter and exit, the surroundings are tightly enclosed. In addition, this place is open and there are no trees that can block the sun. It is conceivable how sultry it will be when the sun comes out during the day.
A thin boy who was knee-high, dirty, smelly, and still had mucus on his face came out from a tent, hugged Lu Zhan’s thigh, and rubbed against him. His hair was messy and long. Luo Zhen did not know how long it had been since he had been freshened up, Luo Zhen could even see fleas active in his hair.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Did your dad come back?” Lu Zhan took out a bright red fruit and handed it to the dirty child.
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The dirty kid didn’t answer Lu Zhan’s question as he had already eaten the fruit in his hand.
A roar from a wild beast came from not far away, and Luo Zhen was taken aback. Could there be wild beasts in this tribe? However, seeing the dirty child as well as Lu Zhan didn’t react strangely, he thought that even if a beast actually broke into the tribe, it shouldn’t be too dangerous.
Although the dirty kid only said a few words, Lu Zhan still guessed what the other party wanted to express. They walked in all the way and didn’t see many people, and since the hunting team had returned while there were still people fighting in the square, Lu Zhan didn’t need to guess what was happening. The only thing that is most important for the warriors in the tribe is to win the fruit of the fertility tree that blooms once a year.
Lu Zhan rubbed the dirty child’s head and took Luo Zhen to the direction where the roar came from.
As he walked in, the voices became louder and louder. It sounded like they were cheering, but because there were too many voices, Luo Zhen did not hear what those people were shouting.
What came into view was people huddled together while two huge black panthers two or three meters high were fighting in the open space surrounded by the crowd. When Luo Zhen and the two came over, the battle seemed to have just come to an end. With a flick of a black panther’s long and powerful tail, it threw the other black panther on its back to the ground. The strong limbs firmly restrained the opponent, and the sharp teeth stopped at the opponent’s throat, but it didn’t bite down hard.
“The winner of this year is Hei Huo of the hunting team.” As a strong male voice rang, the huge black panther released his grip and retreated to the side. The suppressed black panther got up from the ground with his tail curled. After running into the crowd, the victorious panther walked around the field with graceful steps, then opened his mouth, took a thin man, and threw him on his back. There was another deafening cheer from the crowd.
Luo Zhen looked at the huge black panther curiously. With so many humans around, he didn’t think the black panther was dangerous. Are all the beasts of this world that big? Is this tribe called the Black Panther Tribe because it has a good relationship with the Panthers?
While Luo Zhen was speculating wildly, he saw the huge black panther walking up to a middle-aged man with feathers on his head and a bundle of weeds tied to his arms. Its limbs were bent, and the person sitting on its back had just climbed down. He saw the hair on the black panther slowly receding, and the shape of a person gradually appeared from its limbs. This process was very fast, and it happened in just a blink of an eye. The place where the huge black panther was originally standing has become a naked man.
“Hei Huo of the Black Panther tribe, you are the bravest warrior of the tribe. This year’s fertility tree should belong to you and your partner. The beast god has blessed you, and your children will come to our tribe the next spring.” The middle-aged man put his hand on the heads of the panther male Hei Huo and his partner. His voice was not loud, but everyone present could hear his words clearly.
“He… how could he become a human being?” Amidst the bursts of cheers, Luo Zhen pinched himself to make sure that he was not dreaming.
Lu Zhan heard Luo Zhen’s self-talk, glanced back at him, and explained in a low voice in his ear, “All warriors in the tribe can transform into beasts.”
After seeing the battle, Lu Zhan stretched out his hand and took Luo Zhen to walk behind the crowd.
Da Wu would take the winning warrior to pick the fruit, and the others had to deal with the prey brought back by the hunting team. The crowd on the square quickly dispersed.
Lu Zhan led Luo Zhen to the animal skin tent closest to the square. This tent was much larger than the other tents in the tribe. There were some bones and feathers hanging at the door for decoration, and people surrounded it. It was very clean, at least he didn’t see feces everywhere.
The thick animal skin curtain was propped up by a wooden stick, and the light inside was not so good. Standing outside the door, he felt a sultry heat rushing toward his face. Lu Zhan asked Luo Zhen to enter. There was only a strong middle-aged man inside, his face was a bit square, with cyan tattoos on his left forehead, his upper body was pierced, a black animal skin skirt was around his waist, and his bare feet were stained with dry and cracked mud as he sits cross-legged on the ground.
“Chief.” Lu Zhan slightly bent over and bowed to Hei Shan.
Hei Shan nodded slightly, but his eyes fell on Luo Zhen who came in from behind, and his black and thick eyebrows were slightly twisted, “Foreigner?”
Lu Zhan nodded and briefly recounted the story of meeting Luo Zhen.
Even if the primitive society lives in a tribe, it does not mean security. The annexation between tribes, the attacks of beasts, and natural disasters are some of the reasons that make a tribe fall apart. Even the Black Panther tribe had just moved and settled here twenty years ago, so Hei Shan didn’t have much doubt about the reasons Lu Zhan said.
“Do you want to stay in our tribe?” Hei Shan retracted his gaze and looked at Lu Zhan next to him, “Then is he the partner of your choice?”
“Of course not.” Lu Zhan quickly denied, “My transformation ability is too weak, and if I can’t win the fruit of the fertility tree, he is not going to be able to be a member of our tribe.”
Hei Shan frowned even more tightly. “You should know that our tribe does not accept foreigners unless this foreigner wants to be one of us.”
Lu Zhan pulled Luo Zhen and shrugged his shoulders helplessly, meaning that he had done his best. As for what Luo Zhen wanted to do, it was his own choice.
Luo Zhen stepped forward two steps, Hei Shan’s gaze was too sharp, as if he wanted to see Luo Zhen through from the outside to the inside, and the other side’s momentum was bloody, it seemed like a fighter who had just returned from a battle, Luo Zhen was almost unable to look directly at him.
But Luo Zhen also knew that it was not the time to allow himself to counsel. He also understood that after listening all the way, the Black Panther Tribe does not entertain foreigners, unless the foreigner is willing to become a member of the Black Panther Tribe. He was afraid that if he shook his head now and said no then he would be thrown out of the tribe in the next moment.
After seeing the huge mosasaur in the big lake and seeing the black panther turning into a human, Luo Zhen also understood that this world is not as simple as he thought. If he is now driven out by the black panther tribe, it would be hard to say if he could see the sun tomorrow.
“Chief, what if I want to join your tribe?”
Lu Zhan raised his eyebrows, and Hei Shan looked at him, “Have you decided to join our tribe?”
Luo Zhen thought for a while and said honestly, “I have no other place to go. If I leave the Black Panther tribe, I am afraid I will die outside soon. If this is the case, it is better to stay.”
Hei Shan’s expression calmed down a bit, “Every foreigner who lives near our tribe will eventually choose to be a member of our tribe. Although our Black Panther tribe is not big, there are many warriors that can transform into beasts. Although the safety of the tribe cannot always be guaranteed. There will be a low danger of attack, but at least we can hunt for food for the winter and even the elderly and children have never starved to death.”
Really curious about this mother-child fruit! Thank you for the chapter!!
Oh, it’s still disgusting, but for another reason
Thank you for your translation 💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛💛
Thanks for the chapters <3
I’m sorry, but just reading this already makes me nauseous🤢🤮