We made you the chief, and now you've become the world's chief?

Chapter 81 Struggle for Survival
With each step, the saber-toothed tiger could feel itself growing weaker.

But it persevered and continued walking towards the cave.

His mind drifted back to the animals that had been kept in captivity, including the ewe he had eaten the day before…

Xia Minghao followed behind, using his survival knife to cut through the obstacles in his path.

With the saber-toothed tiger leading the way, the journey was much easier than before.

Soon, the saber-toothed tiger stopped and glanced back at the two-legged creatures.

He seemed to be pondering something, or perhaps he had made up his mind.

Then he lowered his head...

The saber-toothed tiger's shadow has vanished?
Xia Minghao quickly turned on the flashlight again, and a bright light shone.

Nature's light was far stronger than firelight, and through the dense bushes, a tiger's tail was visible.

It's a very secluded cave, the cave of saber-toothed tigers.

Crouching down, Xia Minghao saw the situation inside the cave.

It really was a saber-toothed tiger's den...

At this moment, another furry figure approached from inside the cave, sniffing the saber-toothed tiger, which was already exhausted.

The overwhelming smell of blood clearly made the little guy very uncomfortable, but he still stuck out his tongue to help his mother lick the wound that would never heal.

On the other side was another small body, but it was already stiff and motionless, its fur as soft as weeds, and it was already a corpse, having been dead for an unknown period of time.

What is it doing here?
Is it...

The saber-toothed tiger seemed very tired and wanted to sleep.

But he still raised his head again, opened his eyes, and stuck out his tongue.

The blood-stained tongue licked the little guy's body, instantly turning the original orange tiger fur brighter.

The little one didn't understand what was happening, but still enjoyed the caresses from his mother.

Until it was forcefully shoved by the saber-toothed tiger's head...

The tiny saber-toothed tiger, whose little body was pushed out of the cave and who had no ability to survive on its own, looked at its mother for some reason.

But then she noticed that her mother's gaze was fixed on a face outside the cave, a face she had never seen before.

Xia Minghao finally understood.

He stared into the eyes of the saber-toothed tiger, watching as those eyes closed and its head slumped down limply.

Then Xia Minghao looked at the little saber-toothed tiger, which was not much bigger than a house cat, and was overwhelmed with mixed feelings.

The flashlight beam shone into the cave again, revealing that the baby saber-toothed tiger had returned to its mother's side and was beginning to lick her nose.

But for some reason, my mother was completely different from before.

Xia Minghao then noticed a pile of bones in the corner of the cave, which seemed to be... the fetus inside the mother sheep's belly.

It was most likely brought back by the saber-toothed tiger yesterday for the cubs to eat.

As a modern person, Xia Minghao has less animalistic instinct and more human nature, so it's natural that he couldn't help but be moved.

A sense of sentimentality, which did not belong to this wild and primitive era, naturally arose.

But when you think of the ewe who was cut open and died, and the lamb that was never born, who will speak up for her?

This is the brutal struggle for survival, a world where the strong prey on the weak, with absolutely no mercy.

This is the struggle for survival! It is the longest struggle we have ever experienced since we first walked upright and became human.

Of course, this is not the most brutal struggle that humanity has ever encountered.

There are even more horrific scenarios, but they haven't yet materialized in this ignorant age...

"Go and carry out the saber-toothed tiger's carcass."

No matter how many resources a tiger has, they are never enough, especially since tigers are covered in things that are useful for survival.

He could only think about humanistic concern, but Xia Minghao had no intention of actually doing anything substantial, like building a grave for the saber-toothed tiger.

Xia Minghao gave instructions to the primitive people behind him, who were still somewhat afraid of the saber-toothed tiger.

Liba stepped forward and first used the bear bone in his hand, one side sharp and the other thick, to poke the saber-toothed tiger a few times. When the bone was inserted into the wound and the saber-toothed tiger still did not react, and everyone was certain that it was dead beyond any doubt, they dared to step forward and lift the giant tiger.

The baby saber-toothed tiger didn't want these two-legged creatures to hurt its mother, so it bared its teeth and claws, trying to drive them away.

Suddenly, I felt a pair of strong hands grab the back of my neck and lift me up.

As the field of vision shifted, Xia Minghao's face reappeared in the little saber-toothed tiger's pupils.

"They're quite obedient..."

Should we get one?
Raising this thing is definitely risky. It's fine when it's small, but it's hard to say when it gets bigger.

He couldn't help but hesitate, but then he remembered the fear the Da tribesmen had shown when they saw the wolf cubs and Wangcai.

If they can stay in the tribe and be raised there, it's like giving the tribe a boost in its deterrent power.

After thinking for a moment, Xia Minghao decided to raise it for now and see how it goes, but if the little saber-toothed tiger showed any signs of threat in the future, he would not be so lenient.

"She's quite well-behaved..."

Seeing the little saber-toothed tiger staring blankly at me, and then getting bored after a while, it started licking its little paws. For a moment, I felt like I was seeing my big orange cat back home.

The color does indeed resemble that of an orange cat, with a chubby face and two sharp teeth peeking out from its mouth.

"Let's call you Big Orange." The saber-toothed tiger's corpse had already been lifted up by the crowd, and cheers echoed through the night.

Xia Minghao, carrying the large orange, turned on his flashlight and retraced his steps.

Going back will be much easier, since we already cleared a path when we came here, but I estimate that by tomorrow, these shrubs and vines will become dense again, eventually completely obscuring our footprints.

And the cave containing the rotting remains of another saber-toothed tiger cub and a lamb will be completely hidden away...

Back in Salt Spring Mountain, Xia Minghao immediately woke everyone up to begin disposing of the saber-toothed tiger's carcass.

The people of the Xia tribe hadn't slept well to begin with, and they were all a little worried because they knew that the chief was leading a special operation today.

At this moment, a call was made, and everyone got up.

After seeing the saber-toothed tiger's body, everyone was no longer surprised, but cheered loudly.

The cheers also woke up the members of the Da tribe. When they saw what was happening, they were not surprised at all, and even thought it was only natural.

The Xia tribe has killed bears and so many wolves; now killing a saber-toothed tiger is as commonplace as eating a meal.

There was no surprise, but there was a pleasant one.

They've never eaten tiger meat before, but they might get to eat it in the Xia tribe today.

So they took the initiative to step forward and wanted to do their part for the Xia tribe.

They found Lipa, who was happy to accept the help of the Da tribe members, which would make their lives much easier.

But the chief had instructed them to handle the saber-toothed tiger properly, especially its skin, fearing that the inexperienced Da tribesmen would make things worse. So he simply assigned them to deal with the sheep that was originally intended as bait.

While everyone was busy, Xia Minghao brought Daju to Wangcai's place.

As soon as the big orange was put down, Wangcai was startled, which also alarmed the wolf cubs of different sizes.

The wolf cub, being smaller than its "nanny" Wangcai, was immediately terrified when it saw the giant orange cat, which was not much smaller than its "nanny" Wangcai, and its inherent domineering aura of the saber-toothed dynasty.

"what!"

When the big orange dog saw the pack of wolf cubs, its ferocious nature was instantly revealed, and it immediately began to hiss.

This terrified the wolf cubs even more, and they clung tightly to Wangcai, howling in fear.

Wangcai licked each of the wolf cubs in turn, and of course understood what the "wolf king" meant, so he also licked the big orange dog.

But the big orange cat didn't want to be licked by Wangcai at all. So it not only hissed at Wangcai, but also raised its paws to scratch him.

Seeing this, Xia Minghao quickly picked up Da Ju again. It seemed that it wouldn't work to have Wangcai take care of Da Ju like he would a wolf cub.

What if something unexpected happens and Wangcai bites the big orange to death? Then who can we complain to?

When mentioned again, the orange cat instantly lost its previous ferocity and became docile, even trying to snuggle into Xia Minghao's arms.

Xia Minghao quickly lifted the orange cat far away. His outfit was a rare find from the Primitive Era, and he didn't want it to get scratched by its claws, or he would regret it.

Keeping the big orange in the tent was definitely not an option. After thinking about it, I decided to use the fence from when I kept the ewe that died tragically to build a den for the big orange inside the Salt Spring Mountain that would restrict its movement.

I'll have to wait until I return from the Da tribe to make detailed arrangements.

The fence posts were all readily available; a few people were called in to pull them out and move them into Yanquan Mountain.

Xia Minghao also made sure to make them denser and didn't nail them too deep into the soil.

Not only because the soil inside the mountain is dense, but also because the fence should be as high as possible to prevent the big orange from jumping out.

After finishing here, the saber-toothed tiger was also slaughtered.

It was probably midsummer by then, and the nighttime temperature was quite high. After working so hard and sweating so much, Xia Minghao simply arranged a late-night snack for everyone, which consisted of saber-toothed tiger meat.

On one side, a fire was lit in an earthen kiln to roast saber-toothed tiger meat for storage, while the remaining bones with meat attached, which were inconvenient to handle, were all boiled.

The stone stove was lit again, and the Xia tribe, including Daka and a few others, sat around it, waiting for the delicious food they had never tasted before to be cooked.

During the wait, everyone was filled with laughter and joy. The members of the Li clan who participated in the hunt recounted what had just happened, as well as the glowing eyes in the chief's hand, which looked like the sun rising.

Upon hearing the description of this scene, everyone was initially afraid, but this quickly turned into a strong sense of security.

Some people thought of the legend of Kuafu chasing the sun and started talking about it again.

The men were overjoyed, but some of the women, for some reason, couldn't feel happy after hearing it.

They were from different clans, such as the Li clan, the Xi clan, or the Wa clan, but they all had one thing in common: they all had children.

Some even got up and pulled their sleeping children out of bed, then returned to the campfire and gently held them in their arms.

Younger children, thinking their mothers are about to breastfeed them, search for the baby, only settling down after being slapped on the bottom.

Because they are also mothers, this small group of people have been awakened to a rare sense of empathy in an era where people are struggling to survive.

Picking up the bones, everyone happily began to gnaw on them, and finally drank the concentrated tiger meat soup clean before dispersing.

Inside the fence, the big orange dog, which had been howling, quieted down after Xia Minghao fed it a piece of wolf meat. It then fell asleep in the hay nest that Xia Minghao had prepared for it.

The residual heat of the charcoal in the stove dissipated, and the chirping of midsummer insects echoed from outside the cave, reverberating through the valley...

The people of the Da tribe returned to their "beds" made of hay, looked at the night sky, and no one fell asleep.

I just confirmed with the chief that I'll be heading to the Da tribe early this morning, which means my time in the Xia tribe is coming to an end.

This feeling of losing "happiness" is like a thick layer of mud covering their hearts, making it difficult for them to fall asleep.

Finally, everyone looked towards Xia Minghao's tent...

(End of this chapter)