Clumsy Beast, Keep Your Paws Off Chapter 845: The Weight of the Hierarchy

Rao snapped his head up in utter surprise. "You’ll... you’ll give me work?"

"Yes." She glanced at the three pregnant females enjoying the fruit. "And if you work hard, you’ll easily earn enough food and supplies to properly take care of your family."

Rao fell completely silent, his eyes glistening.

Su Qinglan’s expression softened. "You don’t need to resort to stealing, Rao. What if you had been caught by someone who wasn’t willing to listen or let you go?"

Rao’s shoulders slowly slumped. He turned his gaze back toward his three sweet wives.

Su Qinglan followed his gaze softly. "What would happen to them then?"

Rao’s expression changed drastically...the reality of the danger he had put his family in finally hit him. He clearly hadn’t thought that far ahead in his desperation.

After a long moment, he quietly nodded his head. "I understand. I’m sorry... and thank you."

Su Qinglan gave him a warm, reassuring smile. "Good."

With that, she finally turned and walked back toward the city with Hu Yan, Han Jue, and Shi Feng.

After putting some distance between themselves and the cave, Su Qinglan suddenly stopped and turned toward her companions. "Hu Yan."

Hu Yan looked down at her. "What is it, Lanlan?"

"What was that back there?" Su Qinglan’s face was filled with pure confusion. "I’ve never seen females like them before. And one male beastman with three wives... I’ve never even heard of such a thing in the Beast World."

Hu Yan remained silent, frowning thoughtfully. Han Jue was equally quiet. Neither of them had a clear answer; after all, they had spent almost their entire lives within the Fox Tribe, and their knowledge of distant species was limited.

Su Qinglan then turned her eyes toward Shi Feng, who had traveled extensively. "Shi Feng, do you know something?"

Shi Feng nodded slowly, his expression solemn. "Lanlan, those females aren’t beastwomen."

Su Qinglan immediately perks up with interest. "What do you mean?"

Shi Feng thought for a moment to organize his thoughts before explaining softly. "They are what the ancient clans call ’sub-beast.’"

Su Qinglan remained silent for a moment after hearing Shi Feng’s explanation, her mind processing the news.

"Sub-beastwomen..." she murmured softly.

Shi Feng nodded. "That is what they are called across the continent."

Su Qinglan looked back toward the small dirt cave where Rao and his three pregnant mates lived. "But if they are still beastwomen, why couldn’t they find better, stronger mates?"

"Because the Beast World has never been as simple or kind as you think, Lanlan," Shi Feng replied gently.

"Sub-beastwomen have always been at the absolute bottom of the hierarchy. Most full beastmen don’t want to take them as official mates, no matter how few females there are."

"Why?" Su Qinglan asked, her brows knitting together. "Isn’t any female cherished here?"

"Because they are considered inferior," Shi Feng said plainly.

"Beastmen can completely transform between human and beast forms. Their bloodlines are stable, passing on raw strength and abilities to their offspring. Sub-beastwomen are different. Their bloodlines are incomplete or heavily mixed over generations. Some can only transform certain parts of their bodies, while others can never completely enter either form."

"They are neither fully human nor fully beast," Su Qinglan whispered, the harsh reality sinking in.

"Yes," Shi Feng nodded. "That is why many are looked down upon, discarded, or left to fend for themselves."

Su Qinglan’s expression grew solemn. A sudden thought struck her. "But Rao is a full beastman, right? Why did he marry three sub-beastwomen?"

"Because those females wanted him," Shi Feng explained.

"Sub-beastwomen dream of finding a full beastman willing to accept them. Rao is a full raccoon beastman, so to those three females, he was someone they could usually only hope to meet. And because he is a full beastman, he can naturally have children with them."

Su Qinglan’s eyes widened slightly. "So he really does have three wives... But he’s so small!"

Han Jue snorted with utter disdain. "Being small doesn’t mean he can’t be greedy. He couldn’t even properly feed one mate, yet he arrogantly took three."

Hu Yan also shook his large head. "He is clearly far too ambitious for his own good."

Su Qinglan couldn’t help laughing softly at her husband’s blunt reactions. But Shi Feng cut through the lighthearted moment, his expression turning serious.

"Still, don’t blame him too harshly," Shi Feng said softly.

"His own situation isn’t much better than theirs. Rao may be a full beastman, but raccoon beastmen aren’t considered powerful or formidable. Compared to dominant predatory clans like tigers, lions, panthers, wolves, and bears, they are near the bottom of the social ladder."

Su Qinglan’s smile slowly faded. She realized that the Beast World she had experienced so far almost entirely revolved around powerful clans. She had simply never paid attention to life at the bottom.

"The continent has many kinds of beastmen," Shi Feng continued.

"There are powerful predatory beastmen at the top, ordinary beastmen below them, herbivorous beastmen, weaker bloodlines... and those constantly bullied or pushed out by stronger clans. And below even many of those weaker beastmen are the sub-beastmen."

Su Qinglan’s fingers slowly curled into a soft fist. "Just because they can’t completely transform?"

"That’s a major part of it," Shi Feng nodded. "There are many variations. Some have animal ears and tails but otherwise look human. Some have permanent patches of fur or scales.

Some have sharp claws, horns, or other wild traits they can never conceal.

Others can transform halfway but can never complete the shift into a full beast form. Some are born from mixed bloodlines so complicated that their children inherit an even weaker form."

A deep pang of discomfort filled Su Qinglan. She remembered the three gentle females standing outside the tiny cave. She had initially been surprised because she had never seen such a thing before.

Shi Feng looked down at her with gentle, knowing eyes. "Lanlan, we’ve always been exceptionally fortunate. We were born with powerful, respected bloodlines. Hu Yan is a dominant tiger, Han Jue possesses a formidable wolf lineage, and my own lion clan is considered dangerous."

Hu Yan nodded silently, his usual boisterous demeanor muted. Han Jue’s dark expression was unusually serious as well.

They had never needed to wonder whether someone would accept them, nor had they ever worried about starving to death in a harsh winter or hiding their physical traits in shame.

But those three females had lived their entire lives under that heavy shadow.

Su Qinglan remembered the sight of Rao’s little dirt cave...a cramped, dark space barely large enough for a single person, let alone a growing family.

Yet three heavily pregnant females were living inside it together, depending entirely on a tiny raccoon beastman.

She also remembered how desperately Rao had tried to steal fresh vegetables, admitting that his wives simply wanted something sweet and good to eat that didn’t taste like bitter wild weeds.

Su Qinglan let out a long, quiet sigh. "Still... three wives... He should have thought long and hard about whether he could feed three mouths before taking them all on."

"Exactly," Han Jue agreed with a snort.

"Perhaps he’s just both foolishly ambitious," Su Qinglan said, smiling softly.

Shi Feng chuckled softly. "That is probably the most accurate description of him."