“Found it!” Shu Ning finally found the herb she was looking for in the encyclopedia.
‘Can I just use Instant Teleportation to bring it here?
Let’s try.’
With that, she closed her eyes to try.
But after waiting for a long time, the herb never appeared.
“Why didn’t it work?” Shu Ning said, deflated.
“007, are you there?
Why can’t I make the herb appear?”
“So you do realize you’re trying to ‘make’ it appear,” 007 said with a hint of sarcasm.
“Instant Teleportation only works for places you have been to before.”
“Alright, I guess I oversimplified things,” Shu Ning said awkwardly.
“Then why couldn’t I teleport everyone back today?”
“Your Level is too low, the distance was too great, and there were too many Beastmen.
It’s a miracle you managed to move them a few kilometers.”
The system vanished after it spoke.
Shu Ning went back to flipping through the book, looking for where herbs that treat external injuries grew nearby.
‘Not bad.
The Wolf Clan has so many herbs growing here.’
After resting for a while, Shu Ning got up and set out.
It was already afternoon.
Shu Ning figured she would find something to eat after she was done gathering herbs.
After picking some herbs from the nearest location, she went to Mo Li’s cave to find him.
“Mo Li…” Shu Ning called out, panting.
Even a slightly longer walk was enough to leave her half-dead from exhaustion.
At that moment, Mo Li was resting on his bed and didn’t respond.
“Mo Li!” Seeing no response, Shu Ning called out again from the entrance of his cave.
When there was still no answer, Shu Ning walked into his cave.
She saw Mo Li lying on the bed, sleeping peacefully.
His brows were smooth, without a hint of disturbance.
His usually stern face was completely relaxed, making him look both gentle and serene.
Shu Ning’s heart skipped a beat as she watched him.
She placed her hand on his forehead to check if he had a fever.
‘Good, no fever.’
Mo Li was startled by her action and sat up abruptly.
The moment he saw it was her, he instantly relaxed.
“Why are you here?” Mo Li asked, his voice deep and magnetic.
“I’m here to apply medicine to your wounds.”
“No need,” Mo Li refused in a cold tone.
“What do you mean, ‘no need’?
The wound will get infected if it’s not treated, and it’ll leave a scar.
Sit still and don’t move, okay?”
After speaking, she stepped forward and unwrapped his previous bandage.
The animal hide was stained with blood.
She applied the crushed herbs to the wound, then re-bandaged it with a new strip of hide.
She even tied it in a bow.
“There,” Shu Ning said, admiring her “masterpiece” with satisfaction.
Watching Shu Ning’s focused expression as she treated his wound, Mo Li’s features gradually softened, and a warmth spread through his heart.
‘When she’s this close, she…
doesn’t seem so ugly.’
He wondered if it was just his imagination.
“Well, well, well, since when did you two get so close?” Jintong, who had appeared out of nowhere, drawled sarcastically as he leaned against the cave entrance.
His words made Shu Ning’s cheeks flush slightly, and she immediately stood up and took a few steps back.
“Mo Li is injured, I was just treating his wounds.
You…
you shouldn’t spout nonsense.”
But then she remembered that Mo Li was her Beast Husband.
What was there to hide?
Besides, she was just applying medicine, not doing any “inappropriate things” in broad daylight.
“What, are you jealous?” Shu Ning retorted at Jintong.
Jintong was momentarily speechless at her comeback, a flash of panic appearing in his fiery red eyes.
He was, in fact, a little unhappy.
When he’d heard from other Beastmen that she had accompanied Mo Li back to the Jiao Clan, he had felt inexplicably irritated.
Seeing them so close just now made him even more agitated.
‘Could it be true, just like she said?
Am I jealous?’
‘Impossible.
Absolutely impossible!’
‘What is there to be jealous about?
She’s so ugly, so fat, and has such a bad personality.’
‘Besides, I don’t even like her.’
‘This is ridiculous.’
“Who said I’m jealous?” A flicker of disgust appeared in Jintong’s eyes.
‘What’s there to be jealous about?’
“I wish you’d never come looking for me!” With that, he immediately left.
Shu Ning watched his retreating back with a sense of helplessness.
Mo Li quietly watched everything unfold, the corners of his lips curling up slightly in a silent smile.
“Alright, you should get some more rest.
I won’t bother you anymore.
I’m heading back,” Shu Ning said, turning to Mo Li.
“Mm,” Mo Li’s voice was low and gentle.
His eyes followed Shu Ning’s retreating figure, and a silent tenderness welled up in his heart.
Back at her own place, Shu Ning watched the setting sun outside her cave.
“Looks like the day is almost over.
I’ll deal with this tomorrow.”
She muttered to herself, looking at the tree she had moved to the cave entrance two days ago.
‘I’m so hungry…’ Shu Ning clutched her empty stomach.
She had eaten a little for breakfast this morning but hadn’t had anything since.
Suddenly, a man approached from a distance.
“Yiyuan!” Her eyes lit up as she saw the man appear at her cave entrance.
The man was carrying a piece of beast meat and a few wild fruits.
Yiyuan had intended to just toss the meat at her cave entrance and leave, as usual.
But when he saw Shu Ning, his gaze lingered on her for a moment.
His eyes widened slightly, and a trace of surprise flickered in his usually placid expression.
‘She seems to have lost a little weight, and her face…
isn’t quite so unbearable to look at anymore.’
Shu Ning didn’t notice the man staring at her; she just wanted to get to the delicious food as quickly as possible.
“Yiyuan, are these for me?”
Yiyuan snapped back to his senses at the sound of Shu Ning’s voice.
“Mm.”
Shu Ning happily took the food and set it aside, then went to gather firewood to roast the meat, just like last time.
As Shu Ning left, Yiyuan noticed that the trash in her cave was gone.
It was empty and clean, and the usual stench of rot was absent.
There was only a stone bed with some animal hides spread on it.
‘When did she become so clean?’
Thinking back to when she was bathing by the river last time, ‘This female…
she seems different from before.’
‘Ever since she took those two new Beast Husbands…
So that’s how it is!’
A vicious glint flashed in the man’s eyes.
In no time, Shu Ning had a fire going at the entrance of the cave.
Thanks to her experience last time, she was now much more skilled at making a fire by drilling wood.
Shu Ning, running back, didn’t notice the change in the man’s expression.
She continued skewering her meat…
He was always so cold that it was hard for her to notice anyway.
“It’s ready!
Come and eat with me!” Shu Ning called to Yiyuan.
“No need.” Yiyuan strode away without looking back.
“Hey, I still haven’t returned your knife!”
Shu Ning suddenly remembered she hadn’t returned the knife she borrowed from him last time.
The man’s handsome figure had long since disappeared.
‘Whatever.
I’ll just fill my stomach first.’
Shu Ning took a bite of roasted meat, then a bite of fruit.
‘So good…’
‘If only I had some salt.
And some other spices would be even better!’
Shu Ning mused to herself, now full.
‘Right, the encyclopedia!’
She went back into her cave and flipped through the encyclopedia by the lingering light of the sunset.
‘So that’s where it is.
I’ll set out first thing tomorrow morning.’
She suddenly remembered that she hadn’t checked the gift package the system had rewarded her with.
‘Is it in my inventory space?’ Shu Ning closed her eyes and saw an empty space with a package inside.
She opened the package with anticipation and looked inside—
‘A bottle?’
She looked at the words on it: 3-in-1 Liquid Soap: Body Wash, Face Wash, and Shampoo.
‘Isn’t this a little stingy?!’
She studied the inventory space again.
‘If I can take things out, I should be able to put things in.’
She focused her thoughts, and the encyclopedia in her hand vanished in an instant.
‘Take it out again!’
‘Not bad…’
Just then, the sky began to darken.
A cool breeze blew past, and the rustling of the nearby woods made Shu Ning suddenly feel a little scared.
‘Even though this is our clan’s territory, it’s late at night, and my cave doesn’t even have a door…
This is really worrying.’
She had been unconscious on her first day.
On the second night, she had stayed in Mo Li’s chambers in the Jiao Clan.
‘What about tonight?’
‘Maybe I should go sleep at Mother’s for the night?’
‘No, no, no.
Mother is with Father.’
‘It wouldn’t be right to disturb them.’
“DING DONG…
Host, please accept a new mission.”
“Ah!” Shu Ning jumped, startled by the system’s sudden sound.
…
“Host, you must complete the mission: share a bed with any one of your Beast Husbands within 7 days.”
“What do you mean?
Does…
something have to happen?”
“No.
Simply sleeping in the same bed is sufficient to complete the mission.”
“Oh, that’s a relief, that’s a relief…”