The sudden storm of rain and snow, accompanied by lightning and thunder, raged on. The terrifying clap of thunder echoed for a long ti before the dark clouds slowly dispersed, and daylight finally broke.
Sang Luo, who had little to no night vision, was finally no longer blind.
The cold season had already crept upon them, and the blizzard grew fiercer. Within just half a day’s travel, the snow had piled up nearly half a ter thick. The females and cubs couldn’t walk in it at all and could only rely on the Male Beastn in their beast forms to press on.
Thankfully, Lan Cang had previously gone to the city and bought her several warm cloaks. Sang Luo was freezing, so she quickly rummaged through her pack and bundled herself up until she was wrapped as tightly as a rice dumpling, barely warding off the deathly chill.
The sky soon darkened again; this ti, night had truly fallen.
The Beastn, exhausted from running for a full day, had left the borders of Rubel Forest and entered a new one. After seeing almost no trace of the Beast Tide, the group found a safe place to make camp and rest.
Sang Luo hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink all day; she was both hungry and thirsty.
The females’ mates went to hunt nearby, but prey was pitifully scarce in the cold season. They could only manage to find a few wild rabbits and field mice to roast and fill the bellies of the females and cubs. The weaker Male Beasts, for the most part, had to go hungry.
Sang Luo had no male mate, so she crouched in a corner with no one to bring her food. Li Man and the others had their hands full, so she was too embarrassed to go and ask for sothing to eat.
’Sigh! I should’ve learned so hunting skills.’
At so point, Tu Zhu walked over and handed her a roasted fish. His gaze swept over her fair, delicate face, but he said nothing before striding away again.
"..."
Sang Luo took the roasted fish, which was skewered on a wooden branch, feeling a little bewildered.
’Could I have misjudged him?’
’He’s actually a pretty decent guy.’
She was too hungry to spare another thought and took a huge bite of the roasted fish.
Suddenly, Anu rushed over, snatched the roasted fish from her hand, and tossed it to the ground.
Staring at her now-empty hands, Sang Luo looked up and glared at him.
’What are you doing!?’
"Don’t eat it, unless you want to be dazed and forced by him tonight."
Sang Luo froze, her expression suddenly changing.
She had been so starving a mont ago that she hadn’t noticed. But now, as she slled it carefully, she detected a faint scent of Aphrodisiac Fruit mixed in with the roasted fish.
Thankfully, she hadn’t swallowed yet. Sang Luo quickly spat out the chewed-up fish and ran to the river’s edge, where a large hole had been broken in the Ice. She drank several mouthfuls of icy Water to rinse her mouth out.
’That Tu Zhu is too despicable! So disgusting! To think he’d stoop to such a vicious trick. No wonder he looked at with such confidence, as if I were already in his grasp.’
But... looking at the roasted fish cooling on the snow, Sang Luo crouched on the ground, her stomach caved in with hunger. Her mouth watered shafully as she rubbed her growling belly. A few monts later, the tall, slender figure returned.
Anu crouched in front of her with two rabbits in hand and a large bundle of dry firewood in his arms. "Do you like roasted rabbit?"
Sang Luo looked up at him, surprised.
Anu quickly built a fire. A bit clumsily, he skinned the rabbits and removed their entrails, cleaning them by the river. Then, copying how the other Beastn did it, he skewered them on wooden branches and began roasting them over the flas, turning them periodically.
After about half an hour, the rabbit at was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside, with just a hint of an acceptable bloody scent—Beastman females preferred their at cooked dium-rare.
Anu handed one of the roasted rabbits to her.
The aroma had long since made Sang Luo’s mouth water. She took the roasted at, wanting to bite into it imdiately, but she paused, rembering the lesson from just monts before.
’Just because Tu Zhu was no good didn’t an Anu was any better.’
’These Male Beasts would stop at nothing to mate and take a partner.’
Anu saw the wary fear in her eyes and chuckled. "If I were really that unscrupulous, I wouldn’t have stopped you just now. I would have made my move first."
He took the roasted at from her hand, took a bite and swallowed, then handed it back to her.
Seeing that the man’s expression remained unchanged, Sang Luo finally relaxed and dug in.
She ate half the rabbit, which mostly sated her hunger. Then, she pulled so jars of seasoning from her pack, sprinkled so powder onto the at, and continued to eat, chewing slowly.
"Put so on mine, too," Anu said, leaning closer. It slled surprisingly good.
Sang Luo sprinkled so seasoning on his as well.
After taking a bite, he didn’t hold back his praise. "Not bad at all."
[Lan Cang is a great cook. This is a powder he ground from so spices; it’s very convenient.]
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