Werebeast Gongs CH 061 Whose Mate
Everything that needed to be taken had been packed, and farewells had been said to Jing Yue's family. The temporary residence had been tidied up, and they were ready to set off in a couple of days. However, they were caught in a heavy rainstorm. The rain was torrential, causing the river in the valley to swell and even submerge the small bridge. Since there was no urgent need to travel in such weather, they decided to stay put for a few more days. Hao Chen had mentioned a new method for hulling rice a few days ago. Lei Jin had initially thought they would be leaving soon, so he hadn't gone to check it out. But with the rain delaying their departure, he decided to take the opportunity to visit.
Lei Jin noticed two sets of straw raincoats behind the door and gestured for Xiya to bring them over. One for each of them would be perfect. However, Xiya only picked up the smaller one and helped Lei Jin put it on.
"You wear it. I'll fly you over," Xiya said. The rain was too heavy, and Lei Jin's health hadn't fully recovered yet. He couldn't stay out in the rain for long. Flying would be the fastest way.
As they flew through the pouring rain, Xiya shielded Lei Jin under his belly, keeping him warm and dry. When they arrived at Jing Yue's house, they saw that the flowers under the windowsill and eaves had been scattered all over the ground, and the green vine trellis had collapsed, a testament to the intensity of the rain.
Jing Yue's family was gathered in the side room on the west side. Hearing the commotion, they opened the door and quickly invited them inside. Lei Jin, protected by the raincoat and Xiya, was mostly dry except for a few damp strands of hair. In contrast, Xiya was drenched from head to toe, his hair darkened by the water dripping continuously. Jing Ping grabbed a towel and was about to wipe him down when Hao Chen called from the southeast corner, "Jing Ping, come help me with this wooden frame."
"Okay," Jing Ping quickly responded, handing the towel to Lei Jin before rushing off.
Lei Jin stared at the towel in his hand, thinking Jing Ping was too flustered to even notice who he was handing it to. What use was it to him? His arms were still immobile.
Xiya seemed to chuckle softly, then took the towel from Lei Jin. Despite Lei Jin's silent resistance, Xiya sat him down on a stool, first drying his hair before tending to his own.
"Let me take you to my room to change clothes," Jing Yue said reluctantly, standing up with a stern face. He had come to terms with Lei Jin's situation, but that didn't mean he had to like Xiya. However, knowing that feline tribes like the leopard and tiger had an innate aversion to getting wet, he decided to lend Xiya some clothes.
Xiya, without hesitation, followed Jing Yue, which only deepened Jing Yue's dislike for him. As they left, Jing Yue accidentally caught Lei Jin's amused gaze, and suddenly he was recalling the scene by the spring that day, causing his face to flush red.
"Alright, let's go change," Xiya said, wrapping an arm around Lei Jin's shoulder and applying subtle pressure. He knew exactly what had happened that day when he returned from their bath to find the door wide open and game left at the entrance. It was obvious who had been there. Jing Yue was usually clever, but when it came to matters involving females, he became clumsy—a common trait among many werebeasts. Towards other females it was fine, but he wasn't so generous when it came to Lei Jin.
"Let those two go. Lei Jin, come take a look at this. Isn't it much better?" Hao Chen said, holding a stone mortar. Jing Ping was using a small broom to sweep the hulled rice and bran into a wooden basin beside them.
Lei Jin stepped closer to inspect it. The mortar was similar to the ones used in modern households for pounding garlic, but much larger—about the size of a small water vat, over a meter deep, with thick stone walls.
After Jing Ping swept out the hulled rice, Hao Chen poured more rice stalks into the mortar. Kun Ge then took a wooden pestle and began pounding vigorously. It was labor-intensive work, but werebeasts were strong. Even so, it took Kun Ge forty or fifty strikes before the rice grains started to separate.
"This is indeed a good method," Lei Jin remarked. Though it required more strength, it was far more efficient than hand-rubbing.
"I came up with this," Jing Ping said proudly, tilting his little head up.
"Don't get too full of yourself," Kun Ge said, wiping his sweat with a towel Hao Chen handed him. He glanced affectionately at his youngest son, who had been listless for days but finally seemed to perk up today.
"Lei Jin, do you think my method works well?" Jing Ping asked, grabbing a handful of rice from the mortar and blowing away the bran.
Lei Jin smiled and nodded. Jing Ping had done a fine job.
"Papa, Lei Jin says my method works well," Jing Ping said, clenching his fist in self-encouragement.
"I thought of it while pounding herbs. The mortar was dug up by my brother from the mountain. There are many strange things near our temple."
Hearing about the temple, Lei Jin's interest was piqued. Roger had once mentioned that every tribe had a temple of unknown origin, and the patterns Roger had copied came from the stone pillars around those temples.
"Do you also have stone pillars behind your temple?" Lei Jin asked casually.
"Yeah, we erect a sacred pillar every cycle year behind the temple, and we carve patterns on them," Jing Ping replied, not understanding why Lei Jin was asking but answering truthfully nonetheless.
"What kind of patterns?" Lei Jin pressed. Could they be related to the way home?
"I can't really describe them," Jing Ping said, frowning. He had seen the patterns but couldn't articulate what they were.
"Ah! I remember now. I have this," Jing Ping said, his eyes lighting up. He undid his collar, revealing a black leather cord around his neck with a smooth, black, fan-shaped stone pendant. The stone was covered in intricate, interwoven lines.
Lei Jin's expression changed as he saw the stone. "Can I take a look at it?" he asked.
Jing Ping readily handed it over. The stone, though seemingly ordinary, radiated a continuous warmth when held.
Lei Jin finally remembered why the patterns at the Leopard Tribe's temple had seemed familiar. Once, when he was with Liu Si, someone had given him a similar stone. It was from one of Liu Si's workers, a woman who was about to return to her hometown to get married. To thank Lei Jin for saving her, she insisted on giving him a jade stone passed down from her grandmother.
Later, Liu Si had mocked the gift, calling it nothing more than a worthless rock. But Lei Jin had found the stone's ancient and mysterious design intriguing, though he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time and had tossed it aside.
But where had he tossed it? Lei Jin frowned, deep in thought. Damn it, he remembered now. That night, he and Liu Si had returned to his place and headed straight to the bathroom. What happened next was obvious, and he had never thought about the stone again. It must have been left somewhere in the bathroom.
Roger had said that the key to returning home lay in these patterns. Could his arrival here be connected to them, or more directly, to that jade stone?
However, his stone had been round, while Jing Ping's seemed to be a fragment of it.
"Lei Jin, are you okay?" Jing Ping asked, noticing Lei Jin's troubled expression.
"Where did you get this jade stone?" Lei Jin asked, calming himself and softening his tone.
"This? It was a gift from my dad. The patterns on it are exactly the same as those on the pillars, right, Dad?" Jing Ping turned to Kun Ge for confirmation.
Kun Ge nodded. "En, it's been passed down through our tribe for generations. Though it looks old, it's not particularly valuable. I just let Jing Ping wear it for fun."
"Lei Jin, if you like it, you can have it," Jing Ping offered generously, seeing Lei Jin's apparent interest.
"Let me borrow it for a while. I'll return it to you later," Lei Jin said, turning the stone over in his hands. He couldn't decipher its secrets but thought Roger might be able to figure it out.
"It's no problem, you can have it," Jing Ping said, waving his hand dismissively. Though he liked the stone, he was willing to part with it for Lei Jin.
"What are you talking about?" Xiya asked, entering with a bundle of rice stalks under his arm. He had just changed clothes when Jing Yue dragged him to the back shed to fetch more rice, which had delayed him.
Lei Jin waited for him to set the rice down before opening his palm and speaking in a low, excited voice. "Xiya, I used to have a stone like this. Roger said the way home is connected to the patterns on the stone pillars. This stone has the same patterns as the ones on the Tiger Tribe's temple pillars. I want to take it back for Roger to examine. Maybe this time we can really go home."
The more Lei Jin thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. For the first time in a long while, he felt a genuine hope of returning home.
Xiya, however, looked as if he had been struck by lightning. He stood frozen for a moment, his expression dimming as Lei Jin spoke excitedly.
That night, the rain showed no signs of letting up, so Hao Chen invited them to stay. With the extra rice they had hulled, Jing Ping cooked a pot of rice using the method Lei Jin had taught him. Lei Jin, in high spirits, ate an extra bowl. Xiya, however, was torn with conflicting emotions. After feeding Lei Jin, he hastily finished his own meal, barely tasting it despite it being his first time trying such food.
Jing Yue's house had three rooms on the north side. The leftmost room was the main hall, facing the entrance. The two rooms on the left were for Hao Chen and Kun Ge, while the two on the east were for Jing Yue and Jing Ping. The west side was used for storage, and there was a small kitchen by the south wall. Tonight, Xiya and Lei Jin would stay in the room next to Hao Chen and Kun Ge's. Since Xiya had already declared them as formally bonded mates, Hao Chen naturally arranged for them to share a room.
After washing up, they got into bed. The wind and rain beat against the wooden window, creating a rhythmic tapping sound.
Xiya wrapped his right arm around Lei Jin from behind, his left hand slipping under Lei Jin's clothes.
Lei Jin took a deep breath, mindful of the people next door, and whispered, "What are you doing, Xiya…"
"If you can accept Moya, why not me?" Xiya asked, licking Lei Jin's earlobe. He had promised to wait, but with Lei Jin constantly thinking about returning home, how could he wait patiently?
Lei Jin was too elusive, too hard to hold onto. Only by keeping him close like this could Xiya feel any sense of security.
Meanwhile, not far from the Tiger Tribe's territory, by the sea, the storm raged even fiercer. In the dark night, massive black waves rolled on the horizon. Birds had returned to their nests, but a faint light glowed from a cave on the shore. Moya hung the leftover roasted meat on the cave wall.
"Hey, are you really leaving?" Berg asked, pacing back and forth behind Moya.
"Yes," Moya replied calmly, picking up a clay pot from the cave entrance. It was filled with rainwater, which he used to wash his face.
"Haven't I treated you well? Why are you leaving?" Berg's patience was wearing thin as his attempts to persuade Moya failed.
"I don't belong here. Of course, I have to return to my tribe," Moya said, finally looking at Berg with a puzzled expression.
"Stay, and I'll always be with you," Berg said, his usually playful face now serious.
"I already have a mate," Moya replied, understanding Berg's feelings but knowing it was impossible.
"But he's sleeping with your brother," Berg retorted, not holding back. If Moya had heard the noises, so had he.
"He's our mate," Moya said, emphasizing "our" with a calm but firm tone.
"Can you really accept that? If so, why did you run away that time?" Berg pointed out bluntly.
"I didn't run away. I just gave them the space they needed," Moya said, turning his back to spread more dry grass on the damp cave floor.
"Even if I offered to make you my only mate, you still wouldn't stay?" Berg asked, his expression unreadable, each word deliberate.