After Xie Ji left, Yan Yu’an sighed, feeling a bit helpless. Only he knew that he wasn’t a mutant at all—he wasn’t even as capable as the cubs in the tribe. He had one week. What could he do to keep Xie Ji from eating him?
He shook his head and decided to first get to know this place.
The moment he stepped out the door, almost every gaze fell on him. He swallowed and, steeling himself, walked out to face everyone’s curious stares.
“Um…” he began quietly, and in an instant more than a dozen children swarmed around him.
“Who are you?” “Are you a new member of our tribe?” “Did Xie Ji bring you back?” “What’s that thing in your hands?”
Countless questions were hurled at him, making Yan Yu’an’s head ache. He looked at the lively group of children. “Ask one at a time.”
After answering their questions, Yan Yu’an cleared his throat and asked, “So can you tell me how to build a house?”
“Build a house?” one of the children said. “We don’t need to build houses. We live with our mom and dad.”
Yan Yu’an: “…”
Another child squeezed to the front. “First you have to find an open space, then go haul stones—then you can build a house!”
Yan Yu’an sighed. Building a house was far too difficult for him; he’d rather be researching how to hunt.
Suddenly, something occurred to him. He borrowed a flat, round stone and a few thin cords from the children, then went to find some branches.
Looking at these things, he couldn’t help but smile. Then he turned and went into Xie Ji’s house, found a wooden chair, sat down, and crossed his legs, waiting for Xie Ji to return.
The sun gradually set. Yan Yu’an was nearly dozing off when he finally heard cheering from outside. He jolted awake and hurried out.
He saw Xie Ji, his face stained with blood, directing a group of people as they carried a brown bear and other dead animals to the place specially used for storing prey. Then Xie Ji took the horn handed to him and blew it.
As the long, drawn-out note of the horn sounded, everyone—including the mischievous children—stopped what they were doing and ran cheering toward Xie Ji, then began dancing an unknown dance around the thoroughly dead brown bear.
Xie Ji’s gaze swept around the crowd, then he frowned. He said something quietly to the man beside him and left first.
Yan Yu’an knew Xie Ji was coming to find him. He hurried over and stood obediently at the doorway.
“What are you doing?” Xie Ji’s strides were long, and in no time he had reached Yan Yu’an’s side. “Where’s the house you built?”
Yan Yu’an smiled shamelessly and took a small step to stand in front of Xie Ji. “How about we make a trade?” he said with a smile. “I really can’t build a house, but I can let you eat more delicious food, and I can make hauling stones easier for you. I know lots of things—lots of things you’ve never seen. I was wondering if I could trade these things for a place in your house? Living with you, I feel safe.” Yan Yu’an’s eyes curved in a smile, and his peerless looks made it hard for anyone to refuse.
Xie Ji was no exception. He stared at Yan Yu’an’s smile and gave a soft huff, but the tail behind him perked up. His lips moved as if to say no, but looking at this white fox cub’s fair face, he couldn’t quite bear to.
“You’re very good-looking,” the lion said after a pause—words Yan Yu’an hadn’t expected. He paused, then continued, “Alright, tell me what you can do, and I’ll see whether I agree.”
Yan Yu’an understood now—this lion was a first-rate sucker for a pretty face. He smiled. “Do you know of a thing called fire?”
“Fire?” Xie Ji looked at him in confusion, then turned his head away uncomfortably. “Of course I know!”
“You know?” Yan Yu’an laughed. This lying lion—he looked at that tail swinging every which way and laughed out loud.
He glanced again at the crowd—no, the pride of lions—gnawing on raw meat not far away, and couldn’t help shaking his head. “Fire can turn raw meat into cooked meat. Not only does it taste better, but it’s cleaner and safer too—no bacteria or viruses.”
The lion tilted his head and gave a soft snort. “Bacteria and viruses? What are those?”
“It’s something that can kill us,” Yan Yu’an said with a smile. Then he took out the things he’d prepared and went to a relatively open area. He crouched down, ready to show them what a fire source was.
In his five years in the apocalypse, there wasn’t much he hadn’t seen. Though Z-Nation had protected him well, he’d learned many essential skills—like drilling wood to make fire.
With the help of the stone and cord, he soon saw a wisp of smoke. He quickly blew on it, then took out the prepared dry grass, lit it, and tossed it into the circle of stones. Then he added some dry branches.
Soon the fire was burning. Yan Yu’an clapped his hands and leaned in close to a stunned Xie Ji. “This is fire, little lion.”
Xie Ji stared blankly at the blazing flames, his blue eyes full of surprise. Up close, he could even feel the strange sensation this thing called fire brought him.
“This thing… is hitting me?” he said blankly. The fire clearly wasn’t near him, but he could feel a faint, indescribable sensation on his face—warm, unfamiliar.
Yan Yu’an burst out laughing. “Didn’t you say you knew what fire was?” He tilted his head and reached out to ruffle Xie Ji’s golden hair. “We can use it to cook food, and we can use it to drive off fierce beasts.”
A lion is essentially just a big cat. He liked having his head patted, but Xie Ji felt a bit embarrassed. He dodged Yan Yu’an’s hand and stared intently at the flames. “Then we can use this thing to deal with those two guys.”
Yan Yu’an shook his head. “I don’t want you to do that. The purpose of fire is to help people stay away from cold and disease—not to cause disaster and become a weapon that harms life.” He looked at Xie Ji seriously, though he knew the lion didn’t understand the meaning of his words.
He wasn’t afraid the lion wouldn’t listen to him, because he had many ways to stop him from doing bad things—and fire wasn’t all-powerful.
Xie Ji said “oh,” and the tail that had been raised drooped down. Though he didn’t understand what this white fox mutant meant, he was willing to respect his wishes.
“I need a bit of raw meat. I’ll teach you how to use fire.” Yan Yu’an gave the sulking Xie Ji a nudge.
Xie Ji went over to the brown bear and easily tore off a large chunk of meat with his teeth, then handed it to Yan Yu’an.
Everyone else was sneaking glances this way. After seeing that burning thing, there was some fear in their eyes, but more than that, curiosity.
Yan Yu’an found some clean wooden sticks—an old granny nearby had given them to him because he was pretty.
He laboriously skewered the large chunk of meat onto a stick and held it over the fire.
Xie Ji watched him, baffled, with no idea why he was putting meat on this weapon.
After a while, a savory aroma filled the air. Xie Ji was stunned again—he’d never imagined meat could smell this good.
Yan Yu’an swallowed too. He hadn’t eaten in a long time, and the fragrant smell of meat made his stomach growl.
But once the meat was cooked, he still handed it to Xie Ji.
“Too bad there’s no salt…” Yan Yu’an said.
Xie Ji glanced at Yan Yu’an, gave a soft huff, handed the meat back to him, then went and tore off a big chunk of meat himself. He copied Yan Yu’an’s method and put it over the fire. “What’s salt?”
Yan Yu’an looked at Xie Ji with a smile and took a big bite. “You’ll know in the future.”
After a while, Xie Ji’s meat was cooked too. He ate it, and his eyes lit up at once. Then he immediately ordered people to skin the big brown bear and roast it.
“How is it, Xie Ji?” Yan Yu’an sat by the fire, watching the busy pride. Some of the children had already shifted back into little lions, romping and rolling on the grass. The women watched the little lions, while the men busied themselves roasting meat, skinning and roasting the other small prey, and cheering and dancing.
Yan Yu’an hadn’t felt this kind of warm atmosphere in a long time, not since the apocalypse began. He smiled and looked at Xie Ji. “My name is Yan Yu’an.”
Xie Ji froze.
Leave a Reply