Lin Xi rubbed her sore arms and walked deeper into the cave, reaching out to feel the surface of the heated kang bed.
The mud mixture had completely dried and hardened.
Wu Chen had lit a fire beneath the kang bed again this morning, and now it even felt slightly warm to the touch.
Lin Xi immediately brightened up. She went to the straw bed, rolled up the animal skin blanket covering it, carried it over to the kang bed, and carefully spread it out.
The animal skin blanket from the straw bed was a bit small for the kang bed, but since she hadn’t had time to make a proper kang mattress yet, this blanket would have to do for now.
After laying out the animal skin blanket, Lin Xi lay down on it, stretching out her arms to test the feel.
After a moment, she curled her lips into a smile and called out loudly toward the cave entrance, “Wu Chen!”
Two seconds later, Wu Chen’s tall figure swiftly appeared in the cave!
Upon entering, he immediately looked toward the straw bed, only to find it empty. He visibly froze for a moment, his voice tinged with panic as he called out, “Xi Xi?”
But the next second, he turned his gaze toward the heated kang bed.
There he saw Lin Xi propping up her head with one hand while waving to him with the other, “Wu Chen, over here!”
As Lin Xi watched the beastman approach, his figure growing darker the closer he came in the dim light, she patted the space beside her, “Lie down and try it.”
The female beast’s voice was filled with happiness—it seemed she really liked this heated kang bed. Wu Chen obediently sat on the edge of the kang and slowly lay down.
The kang bed beneath him wasn’t as hard as the straw bed, yet it felt inexplicably comfortable.
Wu Chen rolled onto his side, facing Lin Xi until they were nose to nose, “Xi Xi, is the kang bed finished like this? Is it complete?”
“Mmhmm.”
Lin Xi nodded, “In the next couple days, I’ll pick out some animal hides from home and sew a larger blanket to spread over it. Then it’ll be perfect!”
“Good, I’ll help you make it.”
Wu Chen reached out to wrap his arm around Lin Xi’s slender waist, unable to resist pulling her into his embrace.
His little female beast—though much more delicate than other female beasts in the tribe and unable to join the male beasts in hunting like those from fierce beast clans—was very clever.
And her temperament was so very, very well-behaved.
The two lingered on the kang bed for a while. Just as Lin Xi had had enough lying down and was about to get up, Wu Chen suddenly noticed something and exclaimed in surprise, “Xi Xi, the kang bed is warm?”
Hearing this, Lin Xi looked up. The light was too dim to clearly see the beastman’s expression, but she could easily imagine his astonished face.
She chuckled lightly, “Yes, it’s supposed to be warm! That’s what makes it cozy!”
After speaking, she sat up and tilted her head to look at the dark silhouette beside her.
In the darkness, she could vaguely make out the beastman rolling over again, his hands curiously patting and feeling the now-warm animal skin blanket, exploring the temperature beneath his palms.
She couldn’t help but laugh again.
A small sense of pride swelled in her heart: Little beastman, let this big sister give you a tiny taste of amazement!
…
The weather was beautiful today.
The autumn air was crisp and clear, and the sunlight was unusually warm.
Lin Xi and Wu Chen emerged from the cave. On one side of the cave entrance were two piles of game and animal hides being processed.
All this game had been given to Lin Xi yesterday by the beastmen of the tribe.
Wu Chen had been outside earlier processing these hunted animals, and there were still about ten left unfinished.
Lin Xi looked at the skinned game piled to the side and rubbed her nose thoughtfully.
She wanted to try making cured meat with this meat, but there was one problem now—she had no container.
She still needed Wu Chen to make the container first.
“Xi Xi, what’s wrong?”
Turning around, he saw Lin Xi frowning with a troubled expression, and Wu Chen asked with concern.
Lin Xi shifted her gaze to Wu Chen and replied, “Wu Chen, can you help me dig out a large vat first?”
“Large vat?”
“Yes, find a large stone and hollow out the middle to store things.”
Lin Xi gestured with her hands while explaining to Wu Chen, “There’s too much meat here—we can’t finish it in two days, and it will spoil. I want to try curing this meat. Cured meat can last until the next winter without going bad!”
Lin Xi had learned from Wu Chen that each seasonal cycle in the Beastmen world lasted over five hundred and fifty days and nights—equivalent to more than a year and a half on Earth.
Well-preserved cured meat could last two to three years or even longer. Calculated by Beastmen time, if they succeeded in making it, preserving it for a year shouldn’t be a problem!
“It won’t spoil even by the next winter? Xi Xi, are you serious?”
Wu Chen was stunned for a long moment before processing the meaning of Lin Xi’s words! This shocked him!
Food was such a precious resource!
For Beastmen, the most difficult period every winter was the meat shortage during the final stretch.
There were many reasons for the meat shortage:
Early onset of winter, premature migration of animals, delayed arrival of spring, and insufficient preparation by the Beastmen themselves.
Although Beastmen did their best to hunt frantically during the brief thirty days and nights before winter, they always fell short in the end.
Yet they couldn’t hunt earlier!
Because the weather was still hot then, and any prey they brought back would spoil before winter even arrived.
Since being with Xi Xi, he had been worrying about the winter meat shortage.
He feared Xi Xi would go hungry during that time, as going out to hunt then meant the household had already run out of food.
But hunting in the depths of winter wasn’t as simple as just going out and catching prey!
“If we succeed in making it, it can be preserved for a long time.”
Lin Xi saw the astonishment in Wu Chen’s eyes. Hesitating for a moment, she added, “Some wild vegetables can also be preserved that way!”
“That’s amazing!”
Wu Chen’s black ears perked up stiffly, and his long black tail rose high behind him. He put down the half-skinned prey in his hands: “Should I go make a ‘large vat’ now?”
Lin Xi nodded in agreement, but just then, several massive shadows came running up the hillside.
She and Wu Chen looked over together and saw a giant white tiger and a white peacock approaching, followed by a massive Siberian tiger and two black leopards very similar to Wu Chen!
Having met them a few times, Lin Xi could now vaguely recognize who these Beastmen were.
However, the white peacock was her first time seeing it.
Only when the peacock gracefully landed and transformed did Lin Xi realize with surprise that this peacock was actually Wu!
“Female beast Lin Xi, Chief Bai Nu and Wu have come to see how your and Wu Chen’s Heated Kang Bed is doing?”
The moment he took human form, Wu Jie couldn’t wait to speak, his restless manner making Wu Feng beside him glare in disapproval!
Already aware of their purpose for coming, Lin Xi smiled and raised a hand toward the cave entrance:
“It’s ready now. You may go in and have a look!”