You Nian told Little White Tiger to stay in the cave, then went outside to explore the area and look for food.
The ancient trees towered overhead, their dense branches and leaves allowing little sunlight to filter through.
You Nian looked around. The dark forest seemed endless, and the ground was covered in layers of dead leaves. Every step she took made a crisp crunch.
“With leaves this thick, I can’t see what’s underfoot. What if there’s a snake down there?”
She was terrified of accidentally stepping on a venomous snake and getting bitten. In a primitive world without antivenom, that could really be fatal.
You Nian gritted her teeth. There was no choice. If she didn’t go hunting, she’d soon run out of food.
You Nian pushed aside the branches blocking her way, marking the trees as she went so she wouldn’t get lost.
She continued deeper into the forest, where she could faintly hear the calls of small animals.
Perhaps because her original body belonged to a tiger beastfolk, her hearing was far keener than an ordinary person’s. She could clearly hear sounds from several kilometers away.
“Sounds like a guinea pig or something?”
You Nian held her breath and followed the sound. She spotted a huge yellow rabbit, completely unaware of her as it munched on wild fruit.
Hidden behind a clump of grass, You Nian felt cold sweat dampen her palms as she cautiously crept toward the velvet-eared rabbit.
Suddenly, she sprang at it, catching it off guard. With all her strength, she gripped the boning knife in reverse and plunged it toward the rabbit’s neck!
The sharp knife pierced the velvet-eared rabbit’s neck at once. Bright-red blood spurted out, staining its pale-yellow fur.
“Eeek—!”
The rabbit cried out. It was still alive, and its desperate struggle was far stronger than she’d expected.
The boning knife slipped from You Nian’s hand, still stuck in the rabbit.
Driven by its instinct to survive, the velvet-eared rabbit bolted forward as fast as it could.
“That knife cost me fifty system points! I can’t let you run off with it!”
You Nian chased after it. The rabbit was badly wounded and had lost too much blood to run far. Before long, it collapsed on the ground, twitching.
You Nian slowly pulled out the boning knife and lifted the velvet-eared rabbit by its long ears. “Whoa, you’re pretty fat. You must weigh over ten pounds. No wonder you could run so fast…”
You Nian faintly heard the sound of a babbling stream. The stretch she’d just chased the rabbit over had led her right to the water.
“I’ll clean it up before taking it back…”
You Nian picked up the rabbit and walked toward the stream. The water was so clear she could see the bottom, and water plants grew thickly along both banks. It looked fairly safe.
Animal science was one branch of agricultural science.
You Nian had studied animal dissection, too. She quickly and skillfully gutted the velvet-eared rabbit, removed its innards, and rinsed it clean in the running water.
Then she carefully skinned it, keeping the pelt intact.
“I’ll tan it later and save up a few. Maybe I can make a fur skirt.”
You Nian stroked the soft fur. It really did feel lovely.
She sighed. “If only I had a bamboo basket. It’d be much easier to carry things…”
With the rabbit and its pelt in hand, You Nian wiped the cleaned boning knife dry with the fur and casually slid it back into the sheath at her waist.
She looked up along the riverbank and spotted a plant resembling a willow, though its branches were thicker.
“Well, isn’t that convenient?”
Delighted, You Nian immediately plucked a clean, broad leaf and set the pelt and rabbit aside.
She cut off some willow branches with her knife, then deftly wove them together on the spot, making a medium-sized backpack basket.
“Good thing Grandma taught me to weave bamboo baskets when I was a kid in the countryside. Willow branches will do in a pinch.”
You Nian admired her handiwork, then packed the rabbit and pelt into the basket.
She was just about to head back when she faintly heard footsteps approaching. It sounded as if some beastfolk were coming to the stream for water.
To be safe, You Nian slipped into the nearby grass.
Not long afterward, a female in a golden-yellow leopard-skin skirt came this way, clinging to a young male beastman with broad shoulders, narrow hips, and a muscular build.
The male beastman had striking, slightly hooded eyes that gave him a sharp, intimidating air. His nose was straight and high, like a jade pillar, and his lips were beautifully shaped, neither too thin nor too full.
His handsome face was clouded with gloom, as if under a darkness that would not lift.
Fragments of memory suddenly flashed through You Nian’s mind. She quickly seized on them and recognized the pair.
“Li Yaoyao… She’s the most beautiful female in the Black Tiger Tribe, and the chief’s daughter. But isn’t that male Mo Ling, the original owner’s beast husband?”
For some reason, the moment You Nian saw Mo Ling, a surge of resentment stirred inside her.
The original owner had borne Mo Ling a cub, yet she’d been falsely accused of cheating and abandoned in a cave with her baby, where she’d starved to death.
Now that she had gone to another world, Mo Ling was already cozying up to another female, as if he’d completely forgotten the original owner.
“These aren’t my feelings. They’re the original owner’s resentment…”
You Nian took a deep breath and quickly suppressed the restless, violent anger.
She did want to avenge the original owner, but she had to act rationally. Now was definitely not the time.
Li Yaoyao deliberately pressed herself against Mo Ling, speaking to him in a sweet, coaxing voice.
“Brother Mo Ling, I know all about what happened before. That ugly female, You Nian, wanted your hunting skills, so she gave you a love fruit.”
“You were forced to mate-bond with her, and then you had to take care of that ugly, scheming female, You Nian. You never liked her at all.”
Mo Ling abruptly stopped walking, as if her words had swayed him.
Li Yaoyao hurried to press her advantage, continuing to berate You Nian for being ungrateful.
“You were already so good to her, but You Nian still wasn’t satisfied. She went behind your back and slept with a male from the neighboring White Tiger Tribe. She wouldn’t even bear your Baby in her first pregnancy.”
Li Yaoyao’s voice was as sweet as honey. She made no attempt to hide her invitation to Mo Ling.
“Brother Mo Ling~ If you agree to dissolve your mate contract with her, I’ll take you as my beast husband right away. I promise the Baby in my next pregnancy will be your tiger cub~”
“I’m strong and healthy, so the tiger cubs I give birth to will all be strong, too!”
You Nian felt sick. What was Mo Ling doing—cheating on his mate?
But if she didn’t want Li Yaoyao and Mo Ling to discover her and kill her to keep their affair secret, she could only crouch in the grass, like some helpless wife.
Mo Ling didn’t answer Li Yaoyao. He seemed to have sensed something. His gaze darkened, and instead he stepped closer to the grass where You Nian was hiding.
You Nian tensed. She huddled in the grass, not daring to move.
Can’t see me, can’t see me, can’t see me… You Nian silently repeated.
But You Nian had underestimated the beastfolk’s keen sense of smell—especially with the blood-soaked raw rabbit meat in her basket.
Mo Ling approached the grass, his expression turning cold. In a chilly voice, he said, “You Nian, do I have to drag you out, or are you coming out on your own?”