Perhaps it was a blessing that followed the great hardship; they discovered a small lake that had not yet dried up when the water bucket in Si Yan’s space was empty.
The three cubs, starving and parched, started rolling around in the lake, while Si Yan refilled her own water bucket. Then she found so wood and carved a few more small buckets to stuff into her space.
Afterward, Dongchi, with cheeks slightly flushed and obviously embarrassed and coy, said to Si Yan, "Naughty female... I want this."
He pointed to the beast skin skirts of Xi Qing and Bei Ji.
Si Yan held back her laughter and said, "Alright, wait for Mother to hunt a Long-eared Beast."
Dongchi then pointed to the side where, by the base of a large tree, lay two Long-eared Beasts that had already been processed. "They’re there, all done."
The pelts of the two Long-eared Beasts weren’t very intact, but they were sufficient to make two little beast skin skirts for the cubs.
Si Yan, holding the Long-eared Beast pelts that Dongchi had secretly tanned, stealthily glanced at him and saw that the cub’s ears were red to the roots.
Si Yan couldn’t help but smile slightly before hiding her expression so that Dongchi wouldn’t see it.
She used Dongchi’s long hair to make two sets of beast skin skirts, each with a beast tooth as a button. One was carved with ’Dong,’ and the other with ’Nan.’
Dongchi eagerly flipped through the two sets of beast skin skirts, asking, "Which one is mine?"
Si Yan laughed and said, "Call Mother and I’ll tell you."
"Bad female, ugly female, stinky female..."
"Stop, stop, stop," Si Yan imdiately said. "This one, this one. I give up on you."
Dongchi imdiately put on his own beast skin skirt. Si Yan patiently showed him the beast tooth button and said, "This is ’Dong.’"
Dongchi stared at the beast tooth button, his eyes slightly brightening, and the corners of his mouth barely lifting.
Si Yan looked at Nan Mo’s beast skin skirt and paused for a short mont.
All this way, they had always been forced to move on, and so far, she had not chosen to stop and go back for Nan Mo.
With three cubs in tow, she could hardly guarantee their lives during the Day of Blazing Flas. If she turned back to look for Nan Mo, there was a good chance the whole family of five would perish.
Would he bla her for being heartless?
Si Yan suddenly laughed self-mockingly.
Bla her, he probably should.
With that thought, she emotionlessly placed Nan Mo’s set into her space.
The two Long-eared Beasts that Dongchi hunted allowed them to eat one to their heart’s content, while Si Yan processed the other and stuffed it into her space.
Si Yan lit a campfire, and it dispelled the gloom.
Bei Ji, at so point, leaned close to Si Yan and gently nudged her.
Si Yan ca back to her senses and looked at the young cub.
Bei Ji was an empathetic and astute cub. He clutched at Si Yan’s beast skin skirt and said softly, "Mother, if Second Brother knew you let our family’s only male go to find him, he would not bla you."
He pursed his lips. "I promise, he won’t bla you."
The cubs of the Beast World weren’t easy to raise. Beastn during disaster day migrations never stayed behind for stragglers.
If they lived, it was luck; if not, it was fate.
And now, his mother had already sent the only male in the family to look for Second Brother.
His mother was just a female, after all, and she also had to take care of the three of them. To have co this far, he thought his mother had done well enough.
It was him who was too weak. If he were stronger, capable of protecting his mother, that would be better.
Si Yan looked intently at Bei Ji, then suddenly broke into a smile.
This little cub Bei Ji was really considerate. And she felt as if she was reverting more to her past self. How silly that she let a young cub worry for her.
This was the most comfortable night the cubs had had since leaving the Yanxiang Tribe.
"Mother, may I sleep next to you?" Little Bei Ji, with his adorable big eyes, snuggled towards her.
Si Yan simply couldn’t resist his approach and promptly gave in.
"Co here."
The freshly washed Bei Ji imdiately snuggled up to Si Yan, lying on the makeshift straw mat.
As Bei Ji successfully lay down, the other two cubs also subtly approached and lay down beside Si Yan.
Si Yan wrapped her arms around her cubs, looked up at the stars, and felt a mont of tranquility in the threatening Beast World.
"I didn’t expect that Lang Xin also had a Red Crystal Beastman by his side," Si Yan said.
Dongchi spoke up, "It’s just a Red Crystal, nothing so impressive."
Si Yan pinched Dongchi’s face. "You sure talk big."
Dongchi imdiately struggled to free himself from her grasp. "Bad female, I warn you, don’t get handsy!"
Xi Qing said, "Actually, most Red Crystal Beastn don’t take mates. Lang You beca Lang Xin’s mate when he was a Green Crystal. He advanced in rank only after becoming a mate. He’s probably regretting it now."
"Why?" Si Yan asked with great curiosity.
Xi Qing explained, "Because when males and females beco mates, the only thing they gain is the potential right to breed. But for this potential right, they pay too high a price."
Bei Ji also got up and said to Si Yan, "Mother, Bei Ji won’t take a mate in the future."
Xi Qing added, "Neither will I."
Dongchi snorted lightly but did not speak.
"What do you an? I don’t understand," said Si Yan.
Xi Qing explained, "Lower-ranked Beastn, like those with Green Crystals, Grey Crystals, or without any crystals, need to rely on their family—which ans the females—to survive in the Beast World. So their only choice is to beco mates, becoming the male slaves of the female, gaining protection and a slim chance of breeding by sticking together."
"But high-ranked Beastn, like those with Red Crystals or higher, covet greater strength and a vaster sky, so they often don’t want to be bound by females. That’s why they won’t take the initiative to show favor to females. However, such males are the targets females vie for."
Curious, Si Yan asked, "Vied for by females?"
Bei Ji nodded earnestly. "Yes, females will try every ans to beco mates with them, since females depend on males for strength."
Although Si Yan didn’t agree with these female practices, she still found this thod particularly fascinating.
"So let’s say a powerful Purple Crystal male, does that an he has to go into hiding to avoid being overpowered for his virtue?" Si Yan’s imagination ran wild.
"That’s about right."
Dongchi spoke up, "If you’re not careful and get mated, you’ll be controlled by the female. But even if a powerful male becos one of a female’s Beast Husbands, he won’t have too bad a ti; after all, other males can’t beat him. So, the most powerful males often beco the Zheng Xiong of the females, possessing the most mating and breeding rights."
Zheng Xiong??? It took a few monts for Si Yan to understand—it ant the main husband.
Bei Ji declared emphatically, "I’m definitely not taking a mate. It’s no fun to have a mate—I want to beco strong and protect Mother in the future!"
"Don’t talk nonsense, little Bei Ji is as beautiful as an angel, and you will et a female who’s devoted to you," Si Yan chided gently.
Bei Ji’s little face scrunched up. "That’s impossible. It’s better to rely on myself than on a female. I also want to work hard and beco a Purple Crystal Beastman, a Jin Jing Beastman. Mother, Bei Ji doesn’t want offspring. You give birth to several more little brothers for , and I can take care of them. With little brothers, I won’t be the youngest!"
"What kind of male was our father? Mother, can you tell us about our father?" Bei Ji asked, full of anticipation.
Si Yan shook her head awkwardly. "I don’t rember."
"Then he must have been an unremarkable male." Bei Ji lay down disheartened, leaning against Si Yan. "Otherwise, Mother, you wouldn’t have forgotten him. He never sought us out or protected us."
Dongchi raised his palm, feeling the power contained within himself. "We can do without a father."
Xi Qing nodded. "We can beco powerful."
In the days approaching the Day of Blazing Flas, the temperature difference between day and night beca huge. Dayti temperatures could reach fifty or sixty degrees, but at night, they dropped below ten degrees.
The three cubs huddled close to Si Yan to keep warm, making it the most comfortable and heartwarming night in a while.
「The next morning」
The group of one adult and three cubs set off again.
After walking on the scorching road for about seven or eight days, the water and food in Si Yan’s space ran out once more.
The situation beca severe again.
"Hasn’t the Day of Blazing Flas arrived yet?" The high temperature, making her skin feel as if it were forty to fifty degrees, was especially uncomfortable for Si Yan. Besides Si Yan, the three snake Beastn cubs were also struggling.
Snakes fear heat, especially dry heat. In this weather, the first to falter was Bei Ji.
"Mother... I... I can’t hold on much longer." Overwheld by the dry heat, Bei Ji’s body was burning up. "I won’t make it to Dark Sun Lake."
"Bei Ji, get on my back," Si Yan crouched down.
"Mother is tired too, I won’t..."
Without another word, Si Yan hoisted Bei Ji onto her back.
"We agreed, no one gets left behind."
Reviews
All reviews (0)