When Lin Xi woke up early the next morning, she saw Wu Chen had already built a fire outside and was preparing breakfast.
She ran her fingers through her hair while thinking about making a comb, then walked over to Wu Chen’s side.
When she looked up, she saw an enormous animal skin nearly three meters long and wide stretched across several tree trunks on the other side of the fire, being dried by the heat. Surrounding this massive hide, two additional fires burned vigorously.
Lin Xi stared at the huge animal skin for a long moment before realizing this must be the hide from the four-horned beast Wu Chen had killed yesterday!
She noticed several piles of ashes from extinguished fires on the ground opposite the three burning fires.
Suddenly, she turned to Wu Chen: “Wu Chen, did you not sleep at all last night?”
Hearing Lin Xi’s question, Wu Chen turned to look at her. When he saw her surprised expression, his ears twitched: “No, Xi Xi.”
He walked to Lin Xi’s side and explained: “Today is our Mate-bond ceremony. The four-horned beast hide from yesterday’s hunt needs to be properly processed to serve as our Mate-bond token.”
“Then you could have asked me to help!”
Lin Xi frowned. Processing such a large animal skin must have required tremendous effort. Wu Chen had already returned late from hunting yesterday, and now he had stayed up all night. No matter how much energy Beastmen had, this must have been exhausting!
But Wu Chen shook his head: “This was simple work, just tending the fires. It didn’t require two Beastmen.”
Seeing Lin Xi still frowning, his tail gently swished behind him as he quietly took her hand and led her to a soft fruit shell filled with water: “Xi Xi, wash your face first.”
Lin Xi looked down at the makeshift basin and sighed helplessly.
She was discovering that these Beastmen were actually much more clever than she had imagined!
Like the one beside her – while his way of expressing emotions was straightforward, his perception of others’ feelings was extremely sharp!
Lin Xi wasn’t angry, just felt somewhat… uncomfortable inside.
Probably because she wasn’t yet accustomed to receiving such care without reason, she always felt guilty when receiving this kind of unearned attention.
After breakfast, there were no urgent tasks to complete.
The fires didn’t need more wood added – they could burn out on their own, and the animal skin just needed to sun-dry for another day.
Lin Xi urged Wu Chen to return to the cave to catch up on sleep. This time, Wu Chen didn’t refuse and obediently went back inside.
Lin Xi sat at the cave entrance, keeping an eye on the outside fires while sorting through the wild fruits and vegetables she had gathered with Xue Ying in the forest yesterday. She categorized them and stored them in fruit shells.
Most of what they collected yesterday were Black bug fruits and Sweetleaf Grass.
Lin Xi had only picked six or seven Fuzzy Fruits, ate two yesterday, and had four remaining, which she stored with the Little Sweet Fruits gathered earlier that hadn’t been finished.
Additionally, Xue Ying had indeed helped her find new food sources yesterday.
A fruit with yellow skin when ripe, containing seeds resembling broad beans but with a texture like coconut jelly – tender, slightly sweet, and edible directly. Xue Ying said it was called Yellow Multi-seed Fruit.
There is another type that grows underground, about the size of a chicken egg, with purple skin and white flesh. Its taste somewhat resembles raw peanuts, and it is called Purple Skin Fruit.
Lin Xi was a bit curious—would the roasted version of this fruit taste similar to peanuts as well?
So she took two and tossed them by the fire to roast. After more than ten minutes, she used a branch to pull out the two Purple Skin Fruits, whose skins had now turned black.
The shell of the fully cooked Purple Skin Fruit crumbled into pieces at the slightest touch of the branch, revealing the slightly yellowish flesh inside.
Lin Xi waited for the flesh to cool a little before picking it up, blowing off the wood ash.
The moment she blew on it, a rich aroma wafted up—a food scent she had never encountered before!
Carefully, she took a small bite. Contrary to her expectations, the roasted flesh wasn’t very moist, but it wasn’t as hard as she imagined peanuts would be either. Instead, it had a fine texture with a bit of chewiness, somewhat like roasted chestnuts!
Most importantly, its flavor was exceptionally sweet and fragrant, different from chestnuts but delicious nonetheless. Lin Xi couldn’t help but feel delighted—could this become their second staple food after the Black Bug Fruit?
She quickly ate the roasted Purple Skin Fruit in her hand and placed the remaining one in a palm-sized fruit shell, thinking to give it to Wu Chen when he woke up.
After the fire had burned out, Lin Xi returned to the cave.
Wu Chen was sleeping deeply. He had been asleep since the sun rose in the morning until it slanted westward in the evening.
When he woke up, Lin Xi was sitting at the cave entrance, sewing something.
The massive black panther stood up, stretched his limbs straight, arched his back high, and gave a big stretch before shifting into human form.
After putting on his Animal Hide Skirt, Wu Chen walked toward the little Female beast at the cave entrance.
Arriving there, he saw Lin Xi holding a piece of animal hide in one hand and a finger-long bone needle in the other, sewing something.
Hearing movement behind her, Lin Xi knew Wu Chen had woken up. She turned to see him standing quietly behind her, his expression more serious and focused than she had ever seen.
“What’s wrong?”
Lin Xi stopped her work, feeling uneasy under his gaze.
Wu Chen blinked down at Lin Xi, then lifted his head to look outside the cave. His black ears stood erect, and his tail swished constantly behind him.
“Xi Xi.”
He spoke suddenly, his voice still hoarse from sleep.
Lin Xi responded with a soft “Hmm?” and looked up.
Wu Chen looked down at her. “The Mate-bond ceremony is about to begin. We need to go now.”
Lin Xi was taken aback but quickly understood.
“Ah!”
So soon?
Deep inside, her heart trembled at his words!
But Lin Xi immediately stood up, placed the items in her hands back on the grass bed, and hurried to Wu Chen’s side, grasping his warm hand. “Let’s go then!”
Even if she still felt a bit unsettled, she had long been prepared for this!
Feeling the soft touch in his palm, Wu Chen’s stern expression softened slightly.
He squeezed her hand in return. “Mm, wait a moment. We need to bring the animal hide.”
With that, he led Lin Xi out of the cave.
Just then, Wu Feng and Wu Jie, whom they had met yesterday, came running over from the hillside in the distance.
As soon as they approached, Wu Jie eagerly called out to Wu Chen, “Wu Chen, Dad and I are here to help you carry the animal meat and the sacrificial beast head!”
“Alright, wait a moment.”
After speaking, Wu Chen returned to the cave and carried out the two large animal skin bundles along with the four-horned beast head. Wu Feng’s father and Wu Jie didn’t wait for Lin Xi and Wu Chen—they immediately ran toward the center of the tribe after getting the items.
Meanwhile, Wu Chen first removed the large animal skin covering the cave entrance, neatly folded it, and placed it on the ground. Then, his body bent forward as thick black fur densely sprouted across his form.
He crouched on all fours, waiting until Lin Xi had climbed onto his back and settled securely before picking up the animal skin with his mouth and chasing after Wu Feng and the others’ retreating figures!