On the north shore of the Xing River, the air was filled with a large fog of frost.
No doubt due to proximity to the river, the temperature here was even lower than in other places, as could be seen from the depth of the snow on the ground and the thickness of the ice crystals on the trees.
"Second Sister, it seems the cold air from Xing River is spreading faster towards this mountain wall. Is the cold tide coming again?"
By the side of a big tree on the north shore, a young man dressed in a blue beast skin coat, holding an iron axe, looked at the icy river to the south, noticing the chill fog spreading towards him, and quickly looked up to ask.
Above the tree, a young girl dressed in the same blue beast skin coat was also gazing into the distance, in the same direction as the young man.
Unlike the young man, besides the stone axe in her hand, the girl also had a set of bow and arrows on her back. Her long hair was tied into a ponytail with a hairpin made from Frost Wolf bone, and she wore a pair of blue beast skin boots. Though her skin was as rough as the young man’s, her brows and eyes gleamed with a lively energy.
Xiao Yu already had her brows furrowed, and upon hearing her brother Xiao Hen’s inquiry, they knitted even tighter. She leaped down from the tree and went straight to him, twisting his ear:
"You’re already fifteen this year, the leader’s son, and you can’t even remember when the cold tide period is. It looks like you need some discipline!"
"Ouch... it hurts, Second Sister, mercy! I remembered, it happens once a year and twelve months have passed; the cold tide is coming."
Seeing her brother pleading for mercy, Xiao Yu gave him another twist before letting go and said irritably, "If it wasn’t for the cold tide coming, why would Dad have us cutting wood so hard recently? He takes Big Sister and the Hunting Team out almost every night. You’re really not paying attention to anything at the camp!"
Xiao Hen rubbed his ear and grinned, "Hunting is indeed needed, but there’s no need to stockpile wood; we have a coal mine, and the cold tide will easily..."
Before he could finish, Xiao Hen was silenced by Xiao Yu’s intimidating gaze.
"It’s easy for you to say. Can you mine coal? The camp produces only a little every month, and we have to exchange it for iron and other supplies. We must be frugal. If you keep wasting resources , our camp would have collapsed long ago..."
Seeing that Xiao Yu was starting to get angry, Xiao Hen shrank his neck, quickly raised his stone axe to start chopping wood, and changed the topic: "Second Sister, let’s just keep chopping wood and aim to bring back three logs tonight."
Seeing her brother’s mischievous expression, Xiao Yu couldn’t help but tease, but she didn’t say anything more and joined in the wood chopping.
Her little brother was kind, good-hearted, and gifted, just a bit immature and careless about camp affairs.
But that’s understandable, being the youngest in the family, with Father, Mother, Big Sister, and herself doting on him, which shaped his current personality.
Fortunately, though immature, Xiao Hen has never caused any real trouble for the camp and can distinguish the important issues in critical moments.
For instance, with these woodcutting tasks, neither his parents, Big Sister, nor she wanted him to do it, but he insisted, saying that as the leader’s son, he should lead by example.
This shows that his immaturity is only temporary. As he gets more involved in camp affairs, he’ll naturally become more mature.
Luckily, Xiao He Camp is strong enough on Five Ape Mountain, giving her brother enough time to grow.
After they had chopped for a while, suddenly a whistle came from the south of the forest.
"Father and Big Sister are back!"
Xiao Hen exclaimed in surprise, quickly turning to look to the south.
Xiao Yu also stopped chopping, her face breaking into a smile.
Every safe return of the Hunting Team was good news for them.
As the figures to the south gradually appeared, revealing none missing, the siblings’ smiles grew even brighter.
"Wow... three beasts?"
Xiao Hen was the first to notice that the approaching group was carrying three large Cold Beasts, led by two Thorny Wolves and followed by... a Snow Mane.
The siblings knew what to expect from each of the Hunting Team’s trips; bringing back one prey was already worth celebrating, two was almost unthinkable, and three had never happened before.
More crucially, Cold Beast resources were scarce on this north shore, and the only thing they usually managed to find and successfully hunt were Thorny Wolves.
If it wasn’t for having traded coal stone with other camps in the past, the siblings wouldn’t even recognize a Snow Mane.
"Not only three beasts, but one more person too!"
Compared to her brother Xiao Hen, Xiao Yu’s insight was evidently sharper; she immediately noticed that there were sixteen people approaching from the south.
The team that went out tonight had only fifteen people, so how come there were sixteen coming back?
Although they wore puzzled expressions, they relaxed as soon as they recognized the two leading the group.
At the forefront were a middle-aged man and a girl slightly older than themselves. Upon seeing the two, Xiao Yu and her brother showed deep affection and hurried forward:
"Father, Big Sister!"
"Father, Big Sister."
After calling out to Father Xiao Kangcheng and Big Sister Xiao Ning, their eyes simultaneously turned to the person standing beside Big Sister, showing a hint of curiosity.
The siblings were perceptive, noticing that among the sixteen people present, fifteen wore the same blue beast skin clothing as them, except the one standing alongside their father and sister, who was dressed in a black cloak.