Taming the Beast World with a Frying Pan-Chapter 19: The Art of War and Bamboo

Sunlight slipped through the thatched roof and landed right on Ren’s face. She groaned and tried to roll over, but she was stuck.

Again.

Kael was sprawled over her like a possessive starfish. One big arm hugged her ribs, his face pressed into her neck, and a heavy leg pinned her down with all his weight.

"Kael," Ren wheezed, tapping his forearm. "Oxygen. I need it."

"Mmm," Kael grumbled into her skin. He didn’t move. Instead, he tightened his grip. "Stay."

"I can’t stay," Ren said, squirming out of his grip. "We’ve got seventy-two hours before a zombie apocalypse shows up, and we have no food at all."

Kael cracked open one golden eye, still sleepy and clearly wanting more.

"We have food," he rasped, his hand sliding down to squeeze her hip. "We have the Wolves. If we get hungry, we eat the Wolves."

"We are not eating the employees, Kael! That is an HR nightmare!"

Ren rolled off the fur pallet and landed on the cool wooden floor. She stood up and stretched. Her body felt surprisingly good. The [Tiger’s Stamina] buff was really working.

She grabbed her cargo pants. "Get up, Alpha. We’re going grocery shopping."

Kael sat up, the furs gathering around his waist. He gave her a pout that really shouldn’t look that good on a grown man.

"Foraging is boring," he complained. "I want to do the... structural test again."

"Structure is solid. Kitchen is empty. Pants on, Kael."

The Bamboo Grove (500 Meters East)

The trip to the east side of their territory was anything but quiet.

Ren led the way with her kitchen knife. Kael followed, sulking but still looking dangerous. Bark and ten of the strongest wolves came behind them.

"Sniff for water," Ren ordered. "Where there is water, there is starch."

Bark stopped, sniffing a patch of ferns. "I smell... wet wood. Big wet wood."

Ren pushed through the ferns and gasped.

This wasn’t just bamboo. It looked prehistoric, like bamboo on steroids. The green stalks were as thick as oil drums and shot up into the canopy like emerald skyscrapers.

"Whoa," Ren breathed. "I’m gonna need a bigger knife."

"This is grass," Kael stated flatly, kicking a massive stalk. "Why are we here? Grass is for prey."

"It’s not just grass, Kael. It’s a survival kit." Ren walked to the base of a stalk. Sharp tips covered in fuzzy brown husks poked out of the dark earth.

[System Notification: Ingredient Detected - Giant Bamboo Shoots. Quality: S-Rank.]

"Bamboo shoots," Ren explained, digging the dirt away. "Vegetables. Crunchy. Sweet. And the big stalks? We hollow them out for storage jars."

She sliced through the base of a shoot, peeled back the hairy husk, and handed a piece of the ivory-white heart to Kael.

"Try it."

Kael sniffed it suspiciously. He took a bite.

Crunch.

His ears perked. "It... snaps! It has water inside!"

"Exactly. It keeps you hydrated." Ren stood with her hands on her hips. "Alright, team! Operation Panda is on! Grab every shoot and cut the big stalks into three-foot pieces!"

The wolves shrugged, then attacked the bamboo with claws and teeth.

Kael leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. "I’m the King of the Forest. I don’t dig for grass."

Ren walked over to him. She stood on her tiptoes and grabbed the leather strap of his loincloth.

"If you carry the big stalks," she whispered, pulling him close, "I’ll make those spicy ribs again tonight."

Kael’s tail gave a traitorous swish. "With the sticky red sauce?"

"Extra sticky."

CRACK.

Kael punched a bamboo tree. It fell over.

"I will carry ten," he announced.

By noon, the cabin porch looked more like a factory than a home.

Ren stood over a huge clay pot, stirring a strong-smelling mix of water, salt, and crushed sour berries.

"Ugh," Kael wrinkled his nose from the doorway. "Ren. What did you kill? It smells like feet."

"It’s brine, you uncultured feline," Ren said. She packed sliced bamboo into a hollow container and poured boiling vinegar-water over it. "Fermentation. The acid kills bacteria. This keeps the food good for months."

She sealed the jar with clay. "One down. Fifty to go."

Kael watched her. She was covered in soot, sweat, and sour juice, bossing around fifty wolves. She looked amazing.

He walked up behind her, ignoring the fire’s heat, and wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her head.

"You are preparing for a long siege," he murmured against her hair.

"I’m getting ready for the worst," Ren said quietly, leaning into his warmth. "If the Shadow Beasts surround us, we can’t hunt. I’m not letting you go hungry, Kael."

Kael tightened his arms. "I would feed you first. I would cut off my own arm." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Let’s stick to the bamboo, okay?"

Then the air shifted.

The cicadas stopped. The birds fell silent.

Kael stiffened against her back. "Ren," he whispered, his tone dropping to a growl. "Behind me."

"Shadow Beasts?" Ren grabbed her frying pan.

"No," Kael sniffed the air, his lip curling back to reveal gleaming fangs.

Rustle.

A single wolf scout burst from the northern treeline. He was stumbling, blood matting his gray flank.

"Alpha!" the scout wheezed, collapsing.

Kael was there in a blur. "Report."

"Intruders," the scout gasped. "North Ridge. A hunting party. They killed the sentries."

"Shadows?" Ren asked.

"No," the scout shook his head, terror in his eyes. "Lions. Black Lions."

Kael froze. The air around him seemed to hum. "Lions don’t come to the Jungle."

"This one does," the scout whimpered. "He is massive. Black mane. Red eyes. And... he left a message."

The scout flicked his eyes to Ren, then flinched away from Kael.

"Speak!" Kael roared.

"He said... the White Tiger has gone soft. He said you are a toothless kitten playing house with a... a hairless pet."

Ren’s eyebrows shot up. Excuse me?

"He said," the scout trembled, "that he is coming to take the female. To show her what a real King feels like."

Everything went completely silent.

Ren looked at Kael, expecting him to yell. Instead, his pupils widened until his eyes were all black. The veins in his neck stood out.

In the Beast World, challenging a male for his Mate wasn’t just an insult. It was a biological call to war. It flipped the ’Kill’ switch in the brain.

"He wants to show her," Kael whispered. The sound was terrifying.

"Kael," Ren stepped forward, reaching for his arm. "Wait. Stop. Think."

Kael didn’t look at her. If he did, he’d see what the Lion wanted to take, and he’d lose control.

"Bark," Kael said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Gather the fighters."

"Kael, no!" Ren moved in front of him. "It’s a trap! Vara is working with the Snakes! The Shadow Horde is coming! A Lion appearing now? It’s a distraction to pull you away!"

"A distraction?" Kael looked down at her. "He killed my pack. He insulted my Mate. If I don’t go, I’m not an Alpha. I’m a cuckold."

"I don’t care about your pride!" Ren yelled, poking him in the chest. "I care about your life! Stay here! Defend the wall!"

Kael grabbed her hand, moving it gently but firmly away.

"I’ll defend the wall," Kael said. "By putting his head on a spike."

He released her.

"Vorn," Kael pointed to the one-eyed wolf. "You stay. Guard the female. If she gets a scratch, I will skin you alive."

"Yes, Alpha!"

"The rest of you," Kael turned to the pack. "With me. We hunt Lion."

"KAEL!" Ren screamed.

It was too late.

CRACK-SNAP.

The man vanished. In his place, a ten-foot-long White Tiger exploded into existence. He let out a roar that sent birds scattering for miles. It was a sound of pure, challenged dominance.

He didn’t look back. He raced toward the North Ridge, a streak of white fury, with twenty howling wolves behind him.