“What the heck? Who dragged me into the middle of this remote mountain forest?”
You Nian had just earned her PhD in agronomy. In response to the government’s call, she had gone to the countryside to Wumeng Mountain[1]The Wumeng Mountains are a mountain range in southwestern China, extending across parts of Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); to advise on crop cultivation and pest control.
But she hadn’t expected a landslide to send the entire bus, her included, plunging off a cliff.
When she opened her eyes, she was already in a dark cave. An indescribably foul stench filled the air, making her feel sick.
Even more absurdly, a strange fragment of memory had appeared in her mind.
“I thought you were just ugly and stupid. I never imagined you were not only ugly, but also liked fooling around with other males…”
Mo Ling glared at the original owner in disgust. She was frail and ugly, able to survive only by relying on males, yet she still had no self-respect.
“You actually slept with another male beastman and gave birth to a white tiger cub—with wings!”
“I’m a black tiger. How could that possibly be my cub?”
“No, I didn’t! I really didn’t… The cub is yours…”
The original owner’s soft voice trembled as she hurried to defend herself.
“Come find me when you’re ready to tell the truth and get rid of that little bastard.”
The male beastman’s voice was cold and merciless. He abandoned her and walked away.
You Nian digested the memories for a while, her head aching.
The original owner had given the black tiger a white tiger cub, so he’d abandoned her here to fend for herself?
It seemed her soul had transmigrated[2]Transmigration is a common Chinese web-novel concept in which a person’s consciousness or soul enters another world, time period, or body. In this story, You Nian’s soul has entered the … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); into the Beast World[3]A fantasy setting common in Chinese web novels, often featuring beastfolk or beastmen and societies organized around animal characteristics. The specific rules of this world are established by the … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); of a novel, and the unlucky original owner had been left here to starve to death just because of the cub’s coloring.
“Men who insist on making themselves out to be cuckolds are terrifying. Haven’t they heard of the recessive gene for white coloring and traits that skip a generation?”
Grumbling, You Nian sat up—and suddenly felt something soft, warm, and furry under her knee.
“What the heck? Are there rats in this cave?!”
She instinctively kicked out. The little creature yelped in pain, letting out a soft, pitiful plea: “Awoo…”
That didn’t sound like a rat.
In the faint light filtering in through the cave entrance, You Nian saw that the creature on the ground was a fluffy white tiger cub. Even more astonishingly, it had two tiny wings growing from its back.
“Well, I’ve seen everything now. A tiger with wings… Is it some kind of divine beast[4]In Chinese mythology and fantasy literature, divine beasts are supernatural creatures associated with extraordinary powers or mythical origins. Their abilities and significance vary between … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });?”
The poor thing was terribly thin, almost nothing but skin and bones.
You Nian also found it strange. Weren’t there animal carcasses all over the cave? Birds, rodents… They’d rotted and stank to high heaven.
Why hadn’t it eaten any of them?
The little white tiger had clearly been born not long ago; it could barely walk without stumbling. When it saw “Mother” wake up, it hurried toward You Nian, taking unsteady steps, then buried its face against her thigh.
“Mother, you’re finally awake… You’ve been asleep for so long.”
You Nian felt the furry head rubbing against her, and her chest grew damp. The little white tiger was crying?
“They said you were sick, and that you needed to eat something to get better… Cub found lots of prey, but Mother wouldn’t eat any of it. You just kept sleeping and wouldn’t pay attention to Cub…”
You Nian was no fool. With the few clues she had, she quickly pieced things together.
Its mother had starved to death, but the little white tiger was too young to understand something as grave as life and death.
It innocently thought Mother was only sleeping, and that a little food would make her better…
“Cub, open your mouth.”
With mixed feelings, You Nian bent down and gently pried open the little white tiger’s mouth to examine it.
It was at most two or three months old, and its baby teeth hadn’t even fully grown in. How could it possibly hunt? It must have been picking up scraps that others had left behind…
It had been so reluctant to eat the food it had struggled to find, saving every bit for its mother, who was already dead.
Sadly, its mother would never come back.
The original owner must have loved her cub very much. She’d never abandoned it, always saving food for it. She’d starved to death herself while the cub remained alive and well.
If You Nian hadn’t happened to transmigrate into this world, the original owner’s body would soon have rotted and filled with maggots, just like everything else in the cave…
You Nian thought.
Fine. She’d take on the responsibility. Since she’d accidentally taken over the original owner’s body, she ought to care for her cub—and the little white tiger was a good one, at that.
Her most urgent concern was figuring out how to survive with the cub in this primitive world where people ate raw meat and drank blood…
Just then, a mysterious, distant voice suddenly rang out in You Nian’s mind.
“Congratulations, Host, on binding with the Ancient Divine Beast Bloodline System[5]In Chinese fantasy web novels, a “system” is typically a supernatural, game-like mechanism that provides its host with missions, abilities, rewards, or access to special resources. This … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });! Main quest: Restore the bloodlines of all divine beasts that have gone extinct in the Beast World! Quest reward: Resurrection in your original world!”
There was a chance to come back to life? You Nian was astonished. She contacted the system: 「How do I restore the extinct bloodlines?」
“Host, all you need to do is mate with males who carry divine beast bloodlines. During pregnancy, you can use your innate ability, 【Bloodline Purification】[6]A fictional supernatural ability that allows You Nian to purify inherited bloodlines during pregnancy, potentially producing divine beast offspring. Its effects are governed by the novel’s … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });, to transform the bloodline into that of a divine beast.”
「Bloodline Purification?」
You Nian suddenly recalled something. From the fragmented memories she’d just explored, she knew the females in this world were divided into Inferior Females, Ordinary Females, and Superior Females.
The original owner had long been considered an Inferior Female. She was frail and unable to hunt on her own, so she could only depend on males to keep her alive.
Ordinary Females could manage simple hunts, catching small animals.
Superior Females, on the other hand, usually possessed some kind of supernatural or special ability that let them control male beasts instead.
The original owner’s ability was 【Bloodline Purification】. It had unexpectedly purified her cub’s bloodline, making it unlike Mo Ling—and leaving her to suffer a terrible misunderstanding.
You Nian sighed inwardly at the injustice. The original owner hadn’t done anything wrong. She had even been a Superior Female, yet the male beastman had despised her simply because her gift happened to involve reproduction. She’d died with bitterness in her heart.
As You Nian sat lost in thought, the little white tiger suddenly sprang out of her arms, clamped its mouth around the carcass of a fat rat on the ground, and slowly dragged it over.
“Mother, food!”
You Nian stared at the maggots wriggling out of the fat rat’s eye sockets. She was repulsed to her core.
“Ding! The ancient 【Qiongqi】[7]Qiongqi is a legendary creature from Chinese mythology, frequently depicted as a winged tiger. In some ancient traditions, it is counted among the Four Perils, a group of fearsome mythical beings. … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_7').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_7', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); bloodline has been detected. Divine Beast Compendium unlocked… Reward: 500 points. System Shop now open!”
At the sound of the system’s voice, You Nian paused in surprise.
Her little cub, with its snow-white fur and wings sprouting from its back, was none other than the legendary divine beast Qiongqi!
“I’ll take a look at what’s in the System Shop…”
After all, this was a primeval forest. There could be pythons as thick as water barrels out there. She couldn’t exactly go hunting with her bare hands, could she?
Following the system’s instructions, You Nian used her spiritual sense[8]A supernatural form of mental awareness commonly found in Chinese cultivation and fantasy fiction. It allows characters to perceive or interact with things through their consciousness rather than … Continue reading jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_8').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_8', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); to open the shop.
【Boning Knife】Price: 50 points.
【One jin[9]A jin is a traditional Chinese unit of weight. In modern mainland China, one jin equals 500 grams, or approximately 1.1 pounds. jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_3722707_1_9').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_3722707_1_9', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); of flour】Price: 5 points.
【One pack of matches】Price: 1 point.
…
The shop offered all sorts of practical wilderness survival tools and daily necessities, though the prices varied.
You Nian was pleased. The items in the shop were enough to deal with her immediate predicament, so she decisively bought a skinning knife.
A brand-new, gleaming silver boning knife appeared in her hand. A cold glint shone along its tip, promising a keen edge.
“Cub, this food isn’t fresh. Mother will go catch something fresh…”
Since she’d taken over the original owner’s body, she would live on in her place—and live well! She’d make everyone who’d bullied her green with envy!
References[+]