After Wu Chen left, Lin Xi found a shrub with broad, long leaves in the grass at the foot of the mountain.
She didn’t know if this plant existed on Earth where she originally lived, but for now, the shrub’s leaves could be of great help to her.
She tore off more than ten leaves from the roots, took them to the river to wash them clean, and then wove the leaves together in a crisscross pattern. Since she didn’t seal the edges, the leaves were prone to coming apart, but that didn’t matter.
She only intended to temporarily place the cleaned bear meat on the leaves to keep it from touching the soil.
By the time she finished all this, Wu Chen happened to come running back from afar.
From a distance, she could see something held in his mouth.
Lin Xi stood up and waited for Wu Chen to approach. When he placed the object in his mouth on the ground, she saw that it was three oddly shaped items that seemed to be some kind of shell.
The three shells were stacked together as he carried them back, with two thick beast leg bones placed inside the top one.
“Xi Xi, do you think the soft fruit shells will work?”
Wu Chen transformed back into his human form, tied the Animal Hide Skirt he had left by the river earlier around his waist, and asked Lin Xi.
He noticed that the Animal Hide Skirt he had casually taken off was neatly folded and placed on a clean rock—this must have been Xi Xi’s doing.
Because of this discovery, Wu Chen’s ears twitched unconsciously.
Lin Xi’s attention was drawn for a second by Wu Chen’s action of putting on the Animal Hide Skirt, but she quickly averted her gaze when she met his innocent eyes.
She bent down and picked up one of the soft fruit shells, realizing that although it looked large, it was actually very light.
The shell was earth-yellow in color and only half of it remained, somewhat resembling a split gourd ladle, but it was much larger—each one was about the size of two basketballs.
However, it wasn’t perfect: the shell wasn’t a smooth sphere but had a noticeably uneven surface, as if three or four large tumors had grown on a ball.
This made the inside of the shell vary in depth.
But the key question was: “Won’t this catch fire if we use it over a flame?”
Lin Xi looked at Wu Chen with concern, feeling a bit worried.
Wu Chen, however, shook his head calmly. “No, the soft fruit shell is very sturdy and becomes even harder when heated. The witch doctor uses it to brew herbal water. The bitter herb water I gave you last night was boiled in a soft fruit shell.”
So that’s how it was. With this, Lin Xi felt completely reassured.
Although the shell wasn’t attractive and its uneven surface would be troublesome for stir-frying, it was perfectly fine for boiling things.
Now that she had a pot, the other two shells could serve as basins. What she still needed was a knife and a spoon.
But since the witch doctor was already using a pot, might they have started using other tools as well?
So, Lin Xi tentatively asked Wu Chen, “Wu Chen, I also need to use these two bones to make a knife and a spoon.”
Sure enough, without her having to explain their purpose, Wu Chen nodded. He crouched down, picked up one of the leg bones, placed it on a rock as a base, raised his hand, and clenched his fist. Before Lin Xi could react, with two loud thuds, his fist came down, and the leg bone shattered into several pieces in the blink of an eye!
Lin Xi was so stunned by what she saw that she felt completely numb!
If that fist had landed on her, just one punch would have been enough to send her soul straight to the afterlife!
Speaking of which, did Wu Chen have violent tendencies?
Lin Xi couldn’t help but sneak a glance at Wu Chen.
Meanwhile, Wu Chen remained unaware that the young female beast beside him had been so startled by his sudden display of combat prowess that she began questioning his beastly character.
He picked two appropriately shaped bone fragments from the broken pieces and said to Lin Xi, “Xi Xi, how about using these two to grind into knives?”
Lin Xi took them, examined them, then nodded and returned them to Wu Chen. “Alright, let’s use these two!”
The bone fragments Wu Chen selected were one long and one short. The shorter one was wider, more suitable for making a blade similar to a Chinese cleaver, while the longer one, Lin Xi thought, would make a good long dagger that could be carried for self-defense.
However, she was more curious about how Wu Chen planned to make the spoon.
Wu Chen worked quickly, soon finishing two bone knives and attaching wooden handles.
Of course, Lin Xi had wrapped the handles with beast hide herself. Wu Chen had been surprised when he saw this.
After completing the knives, Wu Chen began grinding a spoon for Lin Xi.
The bone piece for the spoon was half a palm in size. Following Lin Xi’s request, Wu Chen first smoothed all the edges of the bone piece before grinding the concave interior.
Once a curved shape was formed inside, he punched a hole in one side with a sharp stone, inserted a wooden stick, and it was complete!
Although the bone spoon was somewhat shallow, Lin Xi was quite satisfied!
She couldn’t wait to first wash the three “pots,” two knives, and spoon in the river water. Then she placed all the tools and bear meat into the soft fruit shells and looked at Wu Chen:
“Wu Chen, is the fire pit for our home at the cave entrance?”
She remembered seeing a small patch of blackened earth on the left side of the cave when they came out.
To her surprise, Wu Chen seemed taken aback by her question, then looked puzzled. “Home? What’s a home?”
Now it was Lin Xi’s turn to be confused!
The Beastmen tribe appeared to have established implicit rules and regulations, but they still hadn’t developed the concept of home?
Facing Wu Chen’s questioning gaze, Lin Xi thought for a moment and carefully phrased her explanation:
“Home is… it can be the place where we live, like the cave that belongs to us, or a shack we build ourselves.”
“It can also be… like Wu Chen and me, since we’ve formed a mate-bond, we’ve created a home. If we have little beastmen in the future, they would be our family members. In that case, wherever we are… home would be there…”
Lin Xi’s voice grew progressively softer as she spoke.
For some reason, even though she was just seriously explaining the meaning of home to Wu Chen, she found herself growing increasingly embarrassed without knowing why.
Her mind was in such turmoil she wanted to scratch her head!
Why did she have to mention little beastmen, making it seem like she was thinking about something else!
While Lin Xi had become embarrassed to the point of blushing crimson, Wu Chen’s eyes grew brighter and brighter!
He understood Lin Xi’s explanation of “home,” but what he saw more clearly was the young female beast’s flushed cheeks!
So, Xi Xi really did like him!
However, seeing Lin Xi’s face now as red as a monkey’s bottom, Wu Chen didn’t say anything.
Mother Wu Zi had told him that blushing meant shyness, and when a beastman blushes, you shouldn’t disturb them, or they might get angry.
Pretending not to notice Lin Xi’s blush, Wu Chen adopted an understanding expression and said calmly, “I understand now. So the cave is home for Xi Xi and me.”
“The place where we make fire is right outside the cave. It’s already charred black—you’ll see it when we get there.”
Yet as he finished speaking, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Why was Xi Xi’s face turning even redder?
Little did he know how desperately Lin Xi wanted to cover her face right now. Hearing Wu Chen repeatedly say “our home,” each word felt to her ears like a deliberate reminder of something!
She could only pretend not to hear Wu Chen’s words, walking ahead while taking deep breaths to suppress the warmth flooding her cheeks.