Orc Priest (5): 

Zhou Qinghao studied the fishing net in his hands and felt that this thing would be very useful.

In their tribe, many people’s beast forms were suited for water.

Among them, eight had hippo forms, seven had water buffalo forms, and more than ten had beaver forms.

These people were not all young and strong, but if they joined in the hunt, there would still be more than ten in total.

Others in the tribe also knew how to swim.

They could choose suitable places in the lake to set fishing nets as traps, then drive fish toward them—there would definitely be a harvest.

Thinking this, Zhou Qinghao began weaving faster.

Gu Juntian opened the door, looked at the sky outside, and said to Zhou Qinghao, “Qing, it’s already dark, let’s sleep.”

Zhou Qinghao replied, “It’s still early, I’ll make this fishing net bigger first.”

Gu Juntian could only watch quietly at the side.

Zhou Qinghao’s hands weaving the net looked beautiful, and the man himself was even more so.

Thinking this, Gu Juntian spread hay on the ground, then covered it with animal hide to make a bed.

When the bed was done, he rolled over it a few times to flatten the hay, and relying on his senses, picked out the harder twigs hidden inside and threw them away.

He worked hard to make the hay smooth, creating a bed that would be comfortable to sleep on.

While Gu Juntian made the bed, Zhou Qinghao kept watching him out of the corner of his eye.

Seeing Gu Juntian so focused on bedding, even rolling around on it, he couldn’t help but smile.

He remembered how Gu Juntian was as a child.

Gu Juntian’s beast form was a tiger. The former priest loved tiger cubs, so Gu Juntian often turned into a little tiger and rolled around at the priest’s feet.

At that time, Zhou Qinghao would sometimes reach out and stroke him.

Unfortunately, after Gu Juntian grew up, he no longer acted like that in front of him…

Now, seeing Gu Juntian rolling on the bed, he realized that in private, Gu Juntian was still lively and playful.

That was really nice!

Zhou Qinghao continued weaving until the net was big enough, then stopped.

He set it aside, planning to sleep.

Seeing him finally done, Gu Juntian eagerly patted the bed he had just made: “Qing, time to sleep.”

Zhou Qinghao froze, wondering if he misunderstood—was Gu Juntian inviting him to sleep together?

Gu Juntian said again: “I made the bed, let’s sleep together.”

Zhou Qinghao then realized he had not misunderstood.

But sleeping with Gu Juntian… that was not possible!

He was afraid he might accidentally reveal something in his sleep and disgust Gu Juntian.

“No need, we can sleep separately,” Zhou Qinghao said.

“It’s been raining all day, it’s cold. If you sleep on the ground you might get sick. Just sleep with me on the bed,” Gu Juntian said.

Gu Juntian was truly sincere, and refusing again would seem wrong.

After thinking, Zhou Qinghao transformed into his beast form and hopped onto the bed.

Gu Juntian: “…” The fluffy little rabbit was too cute, too unfair—he really liked it!

But he wanted to sleep with Zhou Qinghao, not with a rabbit!

He stared at the little rabbit for a long time, sighed, and accepted it.

A rabbit was still better than nothing. Holding a rabbit to sleep was better than having empty arms.

Thinking this, he pulled the rabbit into his arms and stroked its fur a few times.

The little rabbit stiffened completely!

Gu Juntian really wanted to kiss the little rabbit, but was afraid it would run away, so he restrained himself.

Zhou Qinghao liked him, but as a priest raised to avoid intimacy, he likely never thought of really being with him.

Take it slow.

Gu Juntian hugged the warm, soft rabbit and gradually fell asleep.

Zhou Qinghao, however, could not sleep at all.

Gu Juntian wore only a hide skirt, which meant that when he hugged him, Zhou Qinghao was pressed against his bare chest.

The sensation was far too stimulating—how could he sleep?

He closed his eyes, not daring to look, but every breath was filled with Gu Juntian’s scent.

Earlier he suspected Gu Juntian knew of his feelings, but seeing how unguarded he was now, it was clear he didn’t.

From now on, he must hide it well.

He pretended to shift position and brushed against Gu Juntian, then after a while, brushed against him again.

He really, really liked Gu Juntian.

That night, the rain kept falling, though the wind eased.

The tribe slept soundly, and by morning, only light rain remained.

The hippo tribe usually kept their doors open, closing them only in heavy storms. Now that the rain had lessened, people opened doors and busied themselves inside.

Some ground animal bones on stone, some shaped tools, some wove vine baskets, and some sharpened sticks into hunting tools.

These sticks could be used not only for hunting but also for spearing fish. There was an old man in the tribe especially skilled at it.

In Zhou Qinghao’s vision, that man died after the storm.

But now, he was fine, not sick at all.

He even wanted to go fishing.

When Zhou Qinghao heard this while patrolling, he quickly stopped him: “It’s raining today, the water is murky. You won’t catch fish now.”

That was true, so the old man decided to wait until the rain stopped.

Because of Zhou Qinghao, Gu Juntian also paid attention to the old man.

He remembered that the man’s beast form was a cat—he didn’t like water, but loved catching fish.

With the water so dirty, it clearly wasn’t suitable for the old man. So Gu Juntian gathered the younger, stronger tribesmen to take the nets and catch fish.

That day, the hunting team returned full as usual, though instead of dinosaurs, they brought back fish.

Some beastmen partially transformed their claws to butcher the fish.

The heads and guts were put aside, inedible but useful as bait.

Fish roe was placed in a dinosaur skull—Zhou Qinghao planned to cook porridge with it for the children at night.

As for the fish meat, Gu Juntian divided it among the tribe.

Some wrapped it in banana leaves or mud to roast in the fire, others ate it raw.

Gu Juntian cooked fish soup, picked out boneless meat, and served it in a bone bowl for Zhou Qinghao.

The soup was fishy, but people of this time tolerated all sorts of strong smells.

Compared to the roasted fish others made, the soup was actually quite good!

Seeing Zhou Qinghao happily drink the soup, Gu Juntian felt deeply satisfied.

The light rain continued all day, but the tribe did not feel annoyed—they lived pleasantly.

Gu Juntian also thought it was a wonderful day.

Unfortunately, at night, Zhou Qinghao again turned into a rabbit.

Gu Juntian held the little rabbit, stroked it for a long time, then placed it on his chest to sleep.

Pretending Zhou Qinghao was in human form, lying on top of him—pure bliss!

Zhou Qinghao: “…” How could he sleep like this?

As a rabbit pressed against Gu Juntian, he could clearly hear his heartbeat, making it impossible to calm down.

Why was Gu Juntian suddenly treating him so well these days?

Though puzzled, he eventually drifted to sleep.

And in his sleep, he saw a vision again.

The storm caused some damage to the hippo tribe, but nothing major.

Life soon returned to normal.

But other tribes in the nearby forests suffered greatly.

They lived in treehouses, unlike the low huts of the hippo tribe, so the storm blew many away, and some trees broke, killing several.

Worse, the scent of blood attracted predators.

Beastmen could hunt dinosaurs, but sometimes they became prey themselves.

Some carnivorous dinosaurs, after tasting beastmen, even grew fond of it.

Beastmen, after death, returned to human form, lacking hard scales or armor, making them easy prey.

That tribe barely had time to mourn before more were killed.

They fled in panic, losing more people along the way.

Eventually, they reached the area around the hippo tribe.

In Zhou Qinghao’s vision, because the lake’s water level rose, the hippo tribe hunters could only hunt on land and happened to encounter the fleeing tribe. Conflict broke out.

In that clash, Gu Juntian was injured, and two more tribesmen died.

In truth, deaths were common—conflicts with other tribes had taken several lives before.

But Zhou Qinghao didn’t want anyone to die.

Still, outsiders had to be driven away. Nearly two hundred of them fled here, but this land could not support so many more.

What should he do?

As Zhou Qinghao pondered countermeasures, Gu Juntian thought of it too.

Prehistoric life was dangerous—death was easy.

In the hippo tribe, only one-third lived to die of old age.

And the former Zhou Qinghao truly had not been a qualified chief.

That conflict could have been avoided, but the former chief’s arrogance caused the fight. Though they drove the others away, they lost lives of their own.