“Wu Chen killed a four-horned beast!”
The sneer on Hu Cong’s face hadn’t even faded when it instantly froze because of some beastman’s exclamation from somewhere.
Four-horned beast?!
He sharply looked up and gazed again in the direction Wu Chen was running back from, only to see the black panther already right before his eyes!
Even in the darkness, the murderous aura radiating from him couldn’t be concealed, and in the panther’s mouth was a massive white beast head with four sharp horns!
The black panther reached them almost instantly, its tall beast form exuding immense pressure that made people unconsciously take a step back.
Hu Cong’s face suddenly darkened!
Was he actually feeling afraid?
Of Wu Chen?
The enormous black panther slowly paced to position itself between Hu Cong and Lin Xi, not immediately transforming back to human form.
His gray-green eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, first glancing briefly at the red-furred fox nearby, then turning to look at Lin Xi on the other side.
The panther nodded its head toward Lin Xi, signaling for her to return to the cave together.
Lin Xi snapped out of her daze and quickly followed.
In an instant, only Hu Cong with his gloomy expression and other beastmen who had come out to watch the excitement remained in the clearing.
After returning to the cave, Wu Chen placed the beast head he had been carrying in his mouth in the passageway just inside the entrance.
The beast head was enormous, taking up more than half the width of the passage. Lin Xi couldn’t even imagine how big the animal’s body must have been.
Just as Wu Chen transformed back to human form and put on his animal hide skirt, heavy footsteps sounded outside the cave again. Lin Xi peeked out and saw two black panthers like Wu Chen stopping outside, each carrying a huge animal hide bundle in their mouths.
More black panthers – were they Wu Chen’s tribesmen?
As Lin Xi wondered this, she saw the two panthers place their bundles at the cave entrance. One of them curiously lowered its head to examine Lin Xi standing at the entrance, while the other said deeply to Wu Chen who had come out: “We’re heading back.”
Wu Chen didn’t try to keep them, simply nodding: “Alright, Father Wu Feng.”
After watching the two black panthers run toward the other end of the tribe, Wu Chen withdrew his gaze, carried both large bundles into the cave, and began building a fire outside one side of the entrance.
The fire quickly caught, and by its light, Lin Xi went deeper into the cave to examine the bundles. Only then did she realize they contained the body of the four-horned beast, which had been pre-cut into sections before being brought back!
“Xi Xi.”
Wu Chen came in and stood beside Lin Xi, suddenly speaking.
Lin Xi looked up and, seeing Wu Chen’s hesitant expression, already guessed what he wanted to ask: “You want to know why I was with Hu Cong?”
“Yes.”
Wu Chen didn’t deny it, nodding.
Lin Xi actually quite liked Wu Chen’s direct honesty.
She stood up, thinking about encountering both siblings earlier that day, and found it somewhat amusing.
Not to mention, both of them had delivered their final threats in the same way.
She didn’t hide anything, telling Wu Chen everything about her encounters with both Hu Cong and Hu Mei that day. Finally, she looked at Wu Chen curiously: “So, did you know Hu Mei wants to mate-bond with you?”
“I know, but I never agreed.”
“Oh, then…” Lin Xi asked again: “Are there any other female beasts who like you?”
Hearing this, a flicker of emotion suddenly passed through Wu Chen’s pupils as he looked at Lin Xi.
He thought for two seconds, then shook his head, smiling honestly as he spoke: “I don’t know.”
Well, that was a pretty sincere answer too.
Lin Xi raised an eyebrow and smiled, then suddenly her expression turned serious as her gaze fell upon Wu Chen’s tall frame.
“By the way, did you get injured during today’s hunt?”
Hearing this, Wu Chen was momentarily stunned! But he seemed quite pleased!
“I have injuries.”
The Beastman’s voice was somewhat low, and Lin Xi paused for a second before clearly understanding his words.
“What?” she blurted out reflexively, then immediately realized and quickly stepped closer to examine Wu Chen’s body.
The fire was built outside, making the light in the cave passage somewhat dim, but upon getting closer, Lin Xi could easily see the three red marks on Wu Chen’s left shoulder.
The three wounds weren’t particularly deep, but it was apparent that some flesh had been torn away.
Lin Xi couldn’t help but reach out and press around the edges of the wounds. There was no bleeding, and she could even see the surface of the wounds had slightly hardened, as if beginning to scab over!
She felt relieved.
Fortunately, it wasn’t serious, while simultaneously marveling at the Beastmen’s powerful recovery ability.
“Does it hurt?” Lin Xi’s fingertips gently traced beside another wound as she looked up at Wu Chen.
Wu Chen shook his head, “It doesn’t hurt anymore. Wu Feng’s father applied sour mouth fruit for me.”
He even felt that the places Xi Xi had touched were somewhat itchy.
Sour mouth fruit? It seemed to be another type of herbal medicine in this world?
Lin Xi silently memorized this name and was about to speak when a clear stomach rumble sounded from Wu Chen’s abdomen: “Gurgle~”
Both of them froze momentarily. Wu Chen reached up to pat his stomach: “Time for evening meal. I’ll prepare it.”
As he spoke, he moved to unwrap the package containing four-horned beast meat. Seeing this, Lin Xi quickly stopped him: “Hey, Wu Chen! I fried some meat at Xue Tian Ama’s place, along with Black bug fruit. They should be ready by now.”
So a few minutes later, she and Wu Chen appeared outside Xue Tian Ama’s Shack.
Wu Chen called out to Xue Tian Ama from outside, and after receiving permission, they entered. Just as they stepped inside, they came face to face with Bai Nu who was emerging from the dwelling.
“Chief Bai Nu.”
Wu Chen addressed the more robust-built Beastman. Bai Nu’s gaze shifted over, passing Wu Chen to land on Lin Xi.
After two moments, he withdrew his gaze and said to both of them: “Go on in, Wu Chen. Take good care of your Female beast.”
Wu Chen nodded, turned to take Lin Xi’s hand, and brushed past Bai Nu.
Lin Xi couldn’t help but glance back at the departing Bai Nu.
Wu Chen stood over 190 centimeters tall, already quite tall.
But this Bai Nu – he looked to be over two meters tall! Could it be due to the difference in Beast form origins between tigers and leopards?
After Bai Nu left, when only Lin Xi, Wu Chen, Xue Tian Ama, and Xue Ying remained, Lin Xi learned from Xue Tian Ama that Bai Nu had come to deliver game to Xue Tian Ama and Xue Ying.
However, he happened to see Xue Tian Ama’s unusual method of roasting meat and Black bug fruit.
After inquiring, he had already learned that it was Lin Xi who brought this way of preparing food.
But he didn’t seem to have any objections!
Lin Xi didn’t pay much attention to this matter either, instead returning to the cave with Wu Chen carrying their portion of food.
Wu Chen, however, seemed inexplicably happy.
Wu Chen stayed up very late today.
Lin Xi had thought they would sleep right after the evening meal. But after eating, Wu Chen took the four-horned beast meat and beast head outside.
Lin Xi wanted to follow along, but Wu Chen firmly carried her back to the straw bed and insisted she sleep first. With no other choice, Lin Xi could only lie down.
As she lay there listening to the occasional gusts of wind outside the cave, drowsiness gradually washed over her. Eventually, her eyelids grew too heavy to open, and she finally succumbed to sleep.