The Primitive Tribe is about to rise (3): Beat up the scumbag

Two days later, Chu Feng came to find Si Qi to go hunting together.  

He was a little worried about Si Qi, who had been sleeping for two or three days straight. “I heard that snake tribes choose to hibernate when food is scarce. Are you sleeping to stave off hunger because you don’t have enough to eat?”  

He had been bringing food to Si Qi for several days, but each time, Si Qi never ate it. Thinking that Si Qi might dislike accepting his offerings, he explained, “I don’t have any ulterior motives. I’m giving you food simply because I’m the tribe chief… You don’t have to reject me like this.”  

Si Qi found this amusing and said to Chu Feng, “Why would I reject you? I’d be happy to receive food from you.”  

Chu Feng’s initially aggrieved mood instantly took on a strange nuance because of these words.  

That ticklish feeling in his heart resurfaced, and Chu Feng slowly nodded, putting on a serious expression as if he hadn’t read too much into it.  

Yet, in his mind, he couldn’t help but imagine himself giving food to Si Qi, and the other accepting it with a smile…  

Chu Feng turned his head away, slightly embarrassed, and said to Si Qi, “I specifically told Elvin not to join the hunt tomorrow, so you won’t run into him in the group today.”  

Si Qi smiled—a smile as pure and gentle as the freshest morning dew at dawn, so clear and warm that Chu Feng couldn’t tear his eyes away.  

“Thank you, you’re so thoughtful.”  

Chu Feng stared blankly at Si Qi, momentarily at a loss for words. He dumbly nodded, and even after looking away, Si Qi’s smile lingered in his mind.  

This hunting party with Chu Feng consisted of over a dozen warriors, a few of whom had been present for the gossip a few days prior. When they saw Si Qi, they greeted him warmly.  

One of them even said outright, “Si Qi, why are you here? Aren’t your injuries still healing? If you’re willing, I can trade meat for your salt blocks—then you wouldn’t have to join this hunt.”  

Another, seeing how slender and delicate Si Qi looked—handsome enough to have previously sought a warrior rather than a sub-beastman as a partner—couldn’t help but treat him like a gentle sub-beastman, speaking kindly: “Si Qi, if we run into prey later, just hide behind me. I’ll hunt for you! I’ll give you half the meat!”

Chu Feng stood to the side, watching as a group of warriors fawned over Si Qi, feeling inexplicably uncomfortable. He stepped forward and said, “Alright, enough talking. It’s time to hunt. I’ll take care of Si Qi myself.”  

Si Qi nodded in agreement. “Yes, I’d like Chu Feng to look after me.”  

Chu Feng: “…”  

Ahem.  

The warriors, straightforward as they were, didn’t overthink it and replied, “That works. The chief is the strongest—you’ll definitely be safest with him.”  

As the day wore on, the group, armed with stone spears and axes, left the tribe and ventured into the dense, thriving forest—the very forest their settlement was built within.  

Being beastmen, they were naturally sharp-eyed and keen-eared. Clad in rough fur garments, they strode confidently across the rocky, overgrown terrain, showing none of the fear a modern human might feel lost in the wilderness. They moved like born hunters—brave and formidable.  

This made Chu Feng unable to resist glancing repeatedly at Si Qi, the delicate-looking snake beastman beside him. He knew snake tribes were different from lion tribes—they excelled at hunting prey smaller than themselves, using sharp fangs and supple, powerful bodies to strangle their enemies.  

Back when he had fought against the snake tribe, he had managed to take on multiple opponents at once precisely because lion beastmen were stronger. The cost had just been a few gaping wounds and a couple of broken bones from being constricted… 

At the time, he’d been proud of how much stronger he was than the snake tribe, thinking they were nothing compared to lions, the true kings of beasts.  

But now, remembering that Si Qi was also a snake—and one who had been bullied by those very same snake warriors to the brink of death—he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.  

Si Qi was a beastman with no family in the tribe; he had to fend for himself. But how could someone so delicate manage alone?  

It was really worrying…  

Just then, his ears twitched, and his body tensed like a predator’s, his gaze sharpening as he focused on something ahead.  

Without a word, the other warriors, having also caught the faint sounds, moved in perfect sync—lightening their footsteps like a pride of lions encircling prey, spreading out to surround the target.  

Chu Feng stayed close to Si Qi, but Si Qi showed no intention of hiding behind him for protection. Instead, he stood openly at Chu Feng’s side, poised as effortlessly as a pine tree in the forest—more like a spirit who had wandered into the hunt than a beast ready to strike.  

Chu Feng didn’t urge Si Qi to take cover. If he could take down the prey first, Si Qi wouldn’t be in any danger.  

With a fierce, commanding roar, the warriors burst from the underbrush like a sudden gale, charging toward the now-alerted leopards ahead.

Si Qi stood to the side, observing the battle between the beastmen and the wild animals. He couldn’t help but think that if not for their human-like appearances, the way they fought was almost indistinguishable from wild beasts—brimming with raw, powerful beauty.  

His gaze lingered openly on his lover’s body, tracing the smooth, rippling muscles with blatant appreciation. The sheer masculine allure was downright tantalizing, and he had the strongest urge to reach out and touch.  

Lost in thought, Si Qi’s mind briefly wandered—until he snapped back to reality at the sound of Chu Feng shouting his name.  

Startled, he turned just in time to see a leopard, easily twice his size, lunging for his throat with jaws wide open.  

Instinctively, his hand shot out—swift and precise as a snake’s strike—  

Hours later, the hunting party returned to the tribe laden with their haul, the prey collectively weighing over a ton. Some went to the designated area to butcher the meat, while Si Qi carried three intact carcasses to a familiar hut.  

Seeing him burdened with so much, Chu Feng shouldered two of the animals himself and walked alongside him.  

No matter how much of a scoundrel this world’s protagonist was in matters of the heart, he had at least saved the original owner’s life once—which already put him above most protagonists Si Qi had encountered.  

Wanting to sever ties cleanly, Si Qi intended to repay the debt on the original owner’s behalf.  

Returning meat seemed the simplest way.  

Knock knock.  

Footsteps sounded inside, quickening as if the person had caught Si Qi’s scent. The door swung open to reveal Elvin, his face lighting up at the sight of his former lover.  

“Si Qi, you came!”  

Elvin beamed, but his excitement surged into outright delight when he noticed the prey slung over Si Qi’s shoulder. Reaching for Si Qi’s hand, he gushed, “You brought me meat? I knew you still loved me—”  

Then he finally registered Chu Feng standing nearby. His expression shifted, wariness flashing as he instinctively tried to pull Si Qi closer, away from the chief.  

Frowning, Si Qi sidestepped the grasping hand. “Bringing meat doesn’t mean what you think. Don’t read into it.”  

He dumped the leopard carcass on the ground, then glanced back at Chu Feng.

Chu Feng placed the animals he was carrying beside the leopard and silently stood to the side, not saying a word.  

Si Qi said, “I stayed with you for several months and ate a lot of your food. These animals are compensation for that. Don’t ever say again that I took advantage of you or owe you anything.”  

Elvin hadn’t known Si Qi went hunting today, and even if he had, seeing so much prey—more than even he could catch—he couldn’t help but glance at Chu Feng again, his expression darkening.  

“Where did you get all this meat…?” Who gave it to you? Chu Feng?  

He cut himself off, unwilling to voice the question outright, afraid Si Qi might say something he couldn’t bear to hear. Desperately changing the subject, he said, “You don’t have to do this… If you give everything to me, what will you eat?”  

Si Qi couldn’t be bothered to explain and replied dismissively, “The chief said he’d take care of me for a while—why do you care so much?”  

Somehow, those words struck a nerve. Elvin’s face twisted with fury, and he slammed a fist against the doorframe. “What are you saying?! You’re just going to accept him after leaving me?!”  

Si Qi blinked, baffled by the outburst.  

He hadn’t shown any particular affection toward Chu Feng—how had Elvin even come to that conclusion?  

…Probably just looking for another excuse to flip the script, like when he accused the original owner of using him.  

Annoyed, Si Qi said, “Don’t put words in my mouth. Just because you cheated doesn’t mean everyone else does.”  

“Then where did you get all this prey?! It’s all from Chu Feng, isn’t it?!” Elvin was livid, his gaze sharp with resentment as he glared at Chu Feng. The secret he couldn’t voice made him hypersensitive to anything involving the chief. He roared at Si Qi, “Look at you! What kind of prey could you possibly catch? You’re just relying on someone else to survive!”  

“You left me and immediately ran to Chu Feng—someone stronger than me—and you dare say you didn’t cheat?!”  

“The proof is right here!!” Elvin grabbed for Si Qi’s arm, his shouting drawing the attention of nearby beastmen.  

Many wondered why Si Qi and Elvin were arguing again, casting curious glances their way.  

Then they saw the pile of prey on the ground—each carcass perfectly intact, without a single claw mark or wound—and couldn’t hide their shock. Whoever had hunted these had done so effortlessly, without leaving a trace of struggle.

Si Qi was thoroughly annoyed by the protagonist’s attitude—putting on an act of devotion while actually being unfaithful, constantly doubting and interrogating the original owner. Where did this guy get the nerve?  

Not only was he irritated, but the lingering emotions of the original owner also surged with indescribable fury. Old grievances and new grudges combined, making Si Qi itch to tear this scumbag apart with his bare hands.  

He didn’t hold back. If the protagonist wanted a fight, then so be it! Seizing the moment Elvin tried to grab his wrist, Si Qi twisted the man’s arm, intending to pin him down.  

Elvin, a seasoned fighter, wasn’t so easily subdued and barely managed to wrench free.  

But then Si Qi followed up with a lightning-fast flying kick—so swift it reminded onlookers of a striking snake, lashing through the air like a whip.  

Precise. Ruthless. Devastating.  

Elvin hadn’t expected Si Qi to actually attack him. After dodging, he let out an enraged roar and swung a fist.  

“You’re hitting me for Chu Feng?! You’ve gone too far!”  

Chu Feng, who had been standing quietly to the side: …?  

What did this have to do with me??  

Even now, Elvin was still trying to shift blame. Si Qi nearly laughed in disbelief and immediately ramped up the intensity, unleashing combat techniques honed across countless worlds—holding absolutely nothing back.  

The surrounding beastmen watched the fight, utterly mesmerized. Accustomed to instinct-driven brawls, they had never seen such a refined fighting style. Their eyes were glued to the spectacle as they murmured in awe:  

“I never realized Si Qi wasn’t just good-looking—his fighting is beautiful too!”  

“Yeah! It’s like watching a dance!”  

Meanwhile, Elvin, who was taking a one-sided beating, looked anything but graceful, stumbling backward under the relentless assault.  

He frantically blocked the barrage of strikes, baffled and frustrated. How was he losing? This made no sense!  

And Si Qi’s attacks hurt—each blow landing with brutal precision, as if Si Qi felt nothing for him.  

The fight lasted just over a minute. Elvin, thick-skinned and sturdy, could endure it—but then the rabbit beastman, hearing that Si Qi had confronted Elvin again, rushed over in a fury to “mediate.”  

The moment he arrived, he saw Elvin—supposedly the stronger warrior—being overpowered by the “frail” Si Qi. Outraged, he shouted, “Elvin, what are you holding back for?! Si Qi doesn’t love you—you don’t have to go easy on him!”

“Fight back! Beat him up, and he’ll learn his lesson!!”  

“You care about him, but he doesn’t give a damn about you!”  

Hearing this, the surrounding beastmen suddenly “understood.”  

Like the rabbit beastman, they assumed Elvin was holding back out of consideration for Si Qi—unwilling to retaliate, hence the one-sided beating.  

After all, just by appearances alone, one was slender and delicate, his wrists as thin as twigs, his strikes seemingly weaker than a child’s; the other was tall and brawny, his arms thicker than Si Qi’s thighs—capable of felling a tree with a single punch. Who was stronger? Wasn’t it obvious?  

Not to mention, Elvin had defeated every other warrior in last year’s chief competition, losing only to Chu Feng. He was the tribe’s second-strongest fighter.  

By all logic, there was no way he could lose to Si Qi—someone who hadn’t even fully recovered from his injuries, who spent most of his time at home like a sub-beastman, only occasionally venturing out to gather fruit.  

Even Elvin, dazed from the beating, started to believe it too. He was convinced that if he really fought back, Si Qi wouldn’t stand a chance.  

As the rabbit beastman kept shouting—”Si Qi, you’ve gone too far!”, “Elvin, stop holding back for Si Qi’s sake—he doesn’t deserve it!”—Elvin thought of all the “injustice” he’d suffered, Si Qi’s “fickleness,” and the humiliation of being publicly overpowered. With a roar, he bellowed, “Si Qi, that’s enough!”  

Si Qi’s response was a cold, merciless uppercut—crushing straight into Elvin’s jaw. The impact sent the man’s head snapping back, his entire body lifting off the ground before crashing down hard.  

Sprawled on the ground, Elvin saw stars.  

The sheer absurdity of the scene drew scattered laughter from the crowd. The rabbit beastman rushed over in a panic, while Elvin, face burning with shame, pushed himself up. Glaring at Si Qi’s icy, disdainful gaze looming above him, his fury boiled over.  

With a deafening, earth-shaking roar—pure lion’s wrath—Elvin dropped to all fours. His body swelled, human skin erupting into thick, tawny fur as he transformed into a two-meter-tall beast. Muscles rippling, he charged, massive claws slashing toward Si Qi with lethal force.  

“STOP—!”  

Only then did the beastmen realize things had gone too far, scrambling to intervene.  

Some sub-beastmen even turned away, unable to watch—certain that in the next second, Si Qi would be torn apart, his wounds reopening in a gruesome spray of blood.

The rabbit beastman’s round eyes widened with excitement, fists clenched, nearly bursting with glee—  

Si Qi watched the massive beast coldly. Just like with the leopard earlier, he pivoted smoothly, evading the wind-ripping claws. One hand locked onto the lion’s forelimb joint, the other gripped the thick mane beneath its jaw. Harnessing the momentum of the beast’s own charge, he twisted his torso—and with a single explosive motion—heaved the multi-ton lion clean off its feet, slamming it into the ground with a thunderous CRACK.  

The lion howled in pain. Si Qi didn’t pause. He stepped forward, bent low, one hand pinning the dazed beast’s skull while the other—  

Thud. Thud. THUD.  

—hammered down with methodical fury, each strike carrying the original owner’s betrayal, each impact a release of long-suppressed rage. The lion whimpered, thrashing, but Si Qi’s grip was iron. Its attempts to rise only earned it another brutal smash face-first into the dirt.  

The surrounding beastmen gaped. The sight of slender, delicate Si Qi manhandling a fully transformed elite warrior was so absurd it short-circuited their brains.  

Si Qi’s usually calm voice now carried an icy edge:  

“I cheated? I went too far?”  

“You think I need a filthy stray cat to feed me?”  

“You drank my blood to enhance your strength—stole my power—and still had the gall to play victim!”  

“A few measly prey animals? You think I’d need help?!”  

The lion lay wheezing, barely conscious. The rabbit beastman finally snapped out of his shock, tears of outrage spilling as he threw himself over Elvin’s battered form:  

“Si Qi, you monster! How dare you treat Elvin like this!”  

“He was so good to you! This is how you repay him?!”  

“So what if he’s with me now? You had no right to beat him! A warrior as strong as him was never meant to be owned by just one person! You’re patheticly jealous—”  

Si Qi’s next punch stalled mid-air—he couldn’t hit a sub-beastman. His phoenix-like eyes rolled so hard they nearly vanished. This delusional idiot wasn’t worth the breath.  

The watching warriors exchanged glances. Even they understood:  

Elvin had betrayed Si Qi after practically being engaged. But even if they’d just been cohabiting—no one brings a lover home while their partner still lives there! What kind of insult was that?!  

And now it was blatantly clear—Si Qi was the stronger one. How could anyone claim he was unworthy? That he should share?  

Elvin wasn’t even in his league.

The tribal shaman, having arrived midway through the spectacle, observed everything quietly beside Chu Feng. Like the chief, he showed no intention of intervening—but his gaze as he studied Si Qi grew increasingly intrigued, as if discovering something previously hidden. His eyes brightened like an explorer stumbling upon treasure.  

Chu Feng watched from a distance as Si Qi—usually pale as snow—now glowed with a rare flush of anger, his beauty blazing fiercer than ever. His heart pounded wildly, erratic in his chest.  

Then suddenly, Si Qi’s voice cut through the noise:  

“If you hadn’t saved my life back then, making me fall for you, I’d never have been with someone like you in the first place!”  

Chu Feng stiffened as if struck. A sharp, unfamiliar pang twisted in his chest.  

Elvin, bruised and battered, slowly shifted back to human form. His once-handsome face was now a mess of swelling and cuts, leaning heavily on the rabbit beastman as he glared at Si Qi with bitter resentment:  

“You only care that I saved you! Wasn’t everything I did afterward enough to make you love me?! Your heart’s harder than stone!”  

Something about those words felt off to Si Qi, though he couldn’t pinpoint why. He ignored Elvin, leaving him to cling pathetically to his new lover.  

The crowd of warriors swarmed around Si Qi, buzzing with excitement:  

“Si Qi, you were amazing!”  

“You beat Elvin in his beast form while staying human! Are you even stronger than our chief?!”  

The hunters from earlier, having finished butchering their haul, pushed through with boisterous laughter: “Of course he is! During the hunt, he snapped a leopard’s neck with one arm and kicked a bull’s spine in half—we nearly lost our minds watching!”  

Gasps erupted. “So Si Qi was holding back just now?!”  

“No wonder Elvin lasted more than two hits—he’d be unconscious otherwise!”  

Warriors revered strength above all. Now they stared at Si Qi like he was the sun itself, voices brimming with awe:  

“Si Qi, teach us how you fight like that!”  

“I want to be as strong as you!”  

Si Qi paused, glancing toward Chu Feng in the distance. His peripheral vision caught the shaman’s smile—warm, knowing, layered with unspoken meaning. It gave him pause.  

After a beat, he turned back to the eager crowd:  

“Of course. There’s much I can teach you.”