“Wu Chen, I’m really fine.”
As soon as they returned to the cave, Wu Chen placed Lin Xi on the heated kang bed, lifted her clothes, and carefully examined her.
Lin Xi felt helpless, but understanding the Beastman’s concern, she could only protest verbally while allowing him to turn her over and inspect her.
Only when he truly confirmed she had no injuries did Wu Chen finally stop, pulling her into his embrace and holding her silently for a long time.
Lin Xi craned her neck uncomfortably in his hold. After enduring for a while, she couldn’t bear it any longer and shifted, turning her face toward the Beastman: “By the way, it was Hu Cong who saved me earlier. I promised him that when you returned, we’d bring him either a Fleece Beast or a Yellow-Skinned Boar.”
Wu Chen raised his hand and stroked the Female beast’s fluffy head: “Alright, I’ll go hunt one soon.”
He held the little Female beast in his arms for a good while before the frantic beating in his chest gradually subsided.
Today, he had gone to gather wood not too far from the tribe, which was why he could detect the disturbance and return so quickly.
Fortunately, Xi Xi was unharmed.
After another moment, Lin Xi couldn’t stand it anymore and broke free from Wu Chen’s embrace.
When the two emerged from the cave, the Beastmen on the hillside below had already dispersed. At the cave entrance lay two enormous, blood-stained wings.
Lin Xi still couldn’t quite accept the sight of these wings.
After all, these were a Beastman’s wings. Before Bai Nu tore them off, they had resembled human arms, different from prey meant solely for food.
She circled around the wings and stood to the side, watching as Wu Chen picked them up. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked: “Wu Chen, why did Chief Bai Nu give these wings to us?”
Wu Chen held the dripping wings at arm’s length before answering Lin Xi: “Hanging them outside our cave will show other Lone Beasts that we’ve killed one before. They’ll become fearful.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Xi suddenly understood, though she still felt somewhat uncomfortable with the idea.
Just half a month ago, she had been an exemplary young citizen. Now, after only a few days, she had to confront such violence and killing – it was truly difficult for her to accept.
Watching Wu Chen thread rope through the wings to hang them at the cave entrance, Lin Xi quickly called out: “Wu Chen, could you hang them further to the side? I… don’t really like them.”
Wu Chen turned and saw the conflicted expression on the little Female beast’s face.
He didn’t know that every time Lin Xi saw the bloody wings, she would recall the vulture Beastman’s human form having its arms torn off. After all, it had looked human! The mere thought made her stomach churn with nausea! But he immediately agreed: “Alright.”
With that, he carried the wings several steps farther south.
After hanging the wings, he returned to Lin Xi’s side, hesitating with unspoken words.
He still needed to gather wood and hunt for their evening meal as well as the promised prey for Hu Cong.
But after today’s incident with the Lone Beast invading the tribe, he felt uneasy about leaving Lin Xi alone in the settlement.
Even though the tribe was supposed to be the safest place!
While he was still wrestling with his thoughts, Lin Xi said to him: “Wu Chen, let me go out with you!”
Wu Chen was taken aback and instinctively wanted to refuse, but Lin Xi had anticipated this.
She grabbed Wu Chen’s arm: “We won’t go far, just nearby. I want to find some flexible branches to make something.”
As winter’s footsteps drew nearer and the grain-storing season approached, Lin Xi still hadn’t found suitable materials for the back basket she had long wanted to weave!
Thus, she decided to go out searching.
Moreover, today’s events had made her increasingly vigilant. Though Hu Cong’s words were harsh, they held truth.
She was too weak!
She couldn’t even defeat those herbivorous female beasts.
After all, Wu Chen couldn’t always be by her side to protect her. So she wanted to find suitable wood to see if she could make a bow and arrows.
She already had a dagger on her, but if she ever encountered real danger, a long-range weapon like a bow and arrow would better ensure her safety!
At the very least, it would allow her to maintain a distance to escape while attacking!
In the end, Wu Chen couldn’t refuse Lin Xi. Moreover, he felt that keeping the little female beast by his side was actually safer.
He still trusted himself more!
After about ten minutes, Lin Xi estimated that Wu Chen had carried her for roughly twenty kilometers before he gradually came to a stop.
Lin Xi slid down from Wu Chen’s back.
This area wasn’t too far from the tribe, and beastmen were quite active here, so there were basically no large wild beasts around.
Wu Chen could rest a little easier.
Once her feet touched the ground, Lin Xi began observing her surroundings.
It was a broadleaf forest with exceptionally tall trees. The layer of fallen leaves underfoot was thick, and when she brushed them aside, she could see the dark, damp soil beneath.
Along with the small insects crawling within.
The forest had many shrubs, but most were merely ordinary plants—neither edible nor useful.
Holding onto Wu Chen’s tail, Lin Xi walked through the woods for a while.
Gradually, she tossed a few black bug fruits and yellow multi-seed fruits into the bag she carried on her back.
Then, crouching on the ground, she used a bone shovel to dig for purple skin fruits in the soil. As she dug, she suddenly exclaimed, “Huh?”
Wu Chen, who was nearby using the curved bone shovel Lin Xi had made to dig around a tree’s roots, hurried over upon hearing her.
There, he saw her struggling with a small tree branch.
He walked to Lin Xi’s side and crouched down. “Xi Xi, what’s wrong?”
To his surprise, Lin Xi turned to him with a delighted expression. “Wu Chen, I found the tree I’ve been looking for! This is it!”
She showed him the branch she had struggled to break off.
She had been crouching there digging for purple skin fruits when the dense branches of this nearby tree kept scratching her, so she tried to break a few off.
That’s when she discovered that these branches were nearly impossible to break! After much effort, she had only managed to damage the outer bark a little.
This toughness made it perfect for basket weaving!
Wu Chen looked up at the tree and recognized it as a common short tree in the forest.
This type of tree didn’t grow very tall—at most, it reached the height of two beastmen. Usually, the goat tribe beastmen enjoyed picking its leaves to eat. Because the leaves tasted somewhat bitter, it was also called the bitter tree.
So he pointed to the leaves on the tree and said to Lin Xi, “Xi Xi, the leaves of this tree are very bitter, but they are edible.”
“Edible?”
Lin Xi was most interested in anything edible! She completely ignored Wu Chen’s mention of bitterness and only heard the word ‘edible’!
So she stood up, reached out to pluck a leaf, wiped off the dust on it, and then put it into her mouth to chew a few times.
Then she slightly frowned.
It was indeed a bit bitter, but she accepted it quite well.
Moreover, she felt the taste was actually quite similar to dandelions in spring.
Lin Xi immediately became happy! Back at home, she used to love drinking the Bitter Tea brewed from dandelion herbs her mother had roasted.
Though bitter, its lingering fragrance was delightful.
She decided to try roasting the leaves of this bitter tree to see if the flavor would be the same as dandelions!