Chapter 43: Squeak, Squeak, Squeak

“Mmm...”

Once again sensing the weight of someone’s gaze, Lu Fei immediately turned his head and saw the distant figure of the Bear Chief, who was sitting at the stone table directly across from them, also turning his way.

“Is it him...?”

Lu Fei narrowed his eyes, watching as the Bear Chief clinked bowls with the other two chiefs at the table, silently pondering.

For someone as wary as Lu Fei, who always assumed the worst intentions from his enemies, he would never truly believe the Bear Chief had let go of his hatred for him.

If the roles were reversed—if he had lost an arm and was covered in wounds on the battlefield because of a lowly little monster, regardless of the motive—he would definitely want to kill that creature.

If he, with all his self-restraint, still felt that way, how much more so for the cold and violent Bear Chief, who often regarded the lesser monsters as mere fodder, as delicious spirit medicine?

So, even with the Wolf Warlord’s orders, Lu Fei believed that the Bear Chief was only temporarily suppressing his urge to deal with him.

At the first opportunity, the Bear Chief would surely strike.

Moreover, even if the Bear Chief couldn’t target him for now, what if he decided to take out his anger on his sworn brothers, the Crow Monster and Redskin?

The Wolf Warlord would certainly not interfere then.

Of course, monsters usually cared about appearances. Lu Fei believed the Bear Chief likely wouldn’t deliberately go after the Crow Monster and Redskin, but the threat remained.

After all, he couldn’t entrust his brothers’ safety to the Bear Chief’s “sense of face.”

With this in mind, Lu Fei immediately shared his thoughts with the Crow Monster and Redskin, who were watching the other little monsters fight and dance.

“So what should we do?” The Crow Monster, still groggy from drink, immediately sobered at the thought that the Bear Chief might target him instead of their big brother. His intoxication vanished in an instant, and he cried out.

But he still knew better than to make a scene and quickly whispered, “The Wolf Warlord doesn’t even know who we are...”

Redskin looked anxiously to their big brother as well.

Lu Fei gestured for them to stay calm, finished the last sip of wine in his bowl, wiped his mouth, and said, “News of what happened between the Bear Chief and me must have spread among the lesser chiefs after the Warlord stepped in. The General surely knows too.”

“If the Bear Chief can’t touch me and instead goes after you two, the other chiefs will gossip about it...”

“So yes, there’s a chance he might target you.”

Lu Fei shook his head. “But I think it’s unlikely—it would be too humiliating.”

“But there’s still a chance, isn’t there?” the Crow Monster said, his face falling. “If the Bear Chief wants to deal with me and Redskin, he could crush us with one hand.”

“That’s why you need to practice your breathing and cultivation harder,” Lu Fei replied. “Look at Redskin—he’s about to break through, and he was the last to join us on the mountain. Soon, he’ll surpass you...”

Hearing this, the Crow Monster protested, “I really have been trying!”

Lu Fei shot him a sidelong glance and said, “You call that trying?”

With that, he casually collected the three wooden bowls from the table, stored them in his body’s storage space, then stood up and said, “Let’s go. It’s time we headed back...”

The Crow Monster was shocked. Pointing at the chaos ahead—little monsters fighting, playing drinking games, some dancing drunkenly—he exclaimed, “But it’s just getting lively!”

“This big feast only happens once a year. Can’t we stay a bit longer and have some more fun, big brother?”

He looked at Lu Fei with pleading eyes.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to work harder?” Redskin stood up as well and added, “Now’s the perfect time to get back to it.”

“I...”

“Let’s go,” Lu Fei said, turning away from the table.

Redskin immediately followed.

Seeing his brothers leave, the Crow Monster, no matter how much he loved a good party or how reluctant he was, could only get up and follow behind his big brother and third brother, glancing back with every step as they left the feast.

“Stop looking back...”

As the lively, noisy sounds of the feast faded behind them and the bright firelight became mere specks, Lu Fei glanced at the Crow Monster, who kept looking over his shoulder, and couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve still got wine and meat. If you still want to drink, we can have some back at the cave.”

“Oh, right...” The Crow Monster’s eyes lit up, delighted. “I remember you still have a whole jar of wine, and some meat too...”

Seeing the Crow Monster’s hopeless greed, Lu Fei didn’t bother to say more. With a thought, a huge slab of roast meat appeared out of thin air and landed in front of the Crow Monster.

The Crow Monster scrambled to catch it, took a big bite, and cheered, “Big brother’s storage magic is so useful! I have to learn it soon, so I can steal wine and meat like you do.”

Redskin rolled his eyes and said, “If we took too much, they’d definitely notice. Those kitchen monsters are sharp. When you took some earlier, they were watching us the whole time. I think they already realized.”

“Later, when you brought wine to the General and the Warlord, that’s the only reason they stopped watching us... I think the only reason we could take any was because the Warlord gave you a bowl of wine as a reward.”

Lu Fei was surprised by Redskin’s words and asked, “You think they noticed?”

Redskin nodded. “Yes. I saw one kitchen monster watching us closely, especially you. He only stopped once you went up to see the General. I think they definitely noticed.”

Lu Fei pondered for a moment and nodded. “That’s possible. With so many little monsters at the feast, I can’t be the only one with storage magic. The General would have taken precautions.”

“If even the General is wary...”

Hearing his brothers' conversation, the Crow Monster wilted a little. “So should I still learn it?”

Redskin replied, “If you won’t, I will...”

When Lu Fei, the Crow Monster, and Redskin finally returned to their stone cave, it was nearly midnight.

In the end, the Crow Monster didn’t get to drink or eat any more meat, because all three of them were already full, and Lu Fei insisted they not waste the precious monster corpses.

Shortly after midnight, as the sound of snoring echoed from outside the cave, Lu Fei chuckled.

He’d expected this result, after all. It was clearly too much to ask two half-drunk monsters to keep up their breathing and meditation exercises.

He shook his head and thought no more about those two fools.

Lu Fei glanced up at the crevice overhead.

Tonight, there was a moon, but the branches and leaves of the trees above blocked it entirely, so no moonlight reached the cave.

Once again, Lu Fei swore to himself that tomorrow he would cut down those trees.

Suddenly, he felt one of his spiritual senses rapidly approaching.

“It’s the little one!”

Lu Fei immediately understood.

But as he sensed the little creature moving faster and faster beneath the ground, a thought struck him.

“Is it in danger?”

His expression changed as he grew alert.

Just then, a small white figure popped out from the hole it had burrowed earlier, and, spotting Lu Fei, began to squeak excitedly.

Then it bit the bear hide hanging from Lu Fei’s waist and tugged him toward the hole it had made.

Its meaning was clear: it wanted Lu Fei to follow it underground.

In that instant, Lu Fei realized what was happening, and his face lit up with joy.