“Sorry, I have no plans to form a mating bond.”
After being rejected, the Beastfolk left dejectedly.
Hearing her refuse that Beastfolk, Bai Yuwei’s lips curved slightly.
The other Beastfolk did not leave, all staring at the skewers in his hand. He blocked their line of sight, shielding the skewers. “These were grilled for me by Qiqi. If you want some, go make your own. Don’t even think about taking mine.”
“We could smell the aroma from far away. Just let me taste one piece.”
“Yeah, let us see how delicious this grilled meat is.”
“Go on, get lost. You wish.” This was grilled for him by Qiqi. Such delicious grilled meat couldn’t be given to them.
After shooing them away, Bai Yuwei noticed she had only eaten one skewer. “Qiqi, keep eating.”
“I can’t eat anymore.” The meat chunks weren’t small, and she had also eaten a few fruits earlier to cut the greasiness. Her stomach felt slightly bloated.
“You’re full after just this little?” Bai Yuwei widened his eyes in surprise. One skewer wasn’t even enough to fill the gaps between his teeth. How could she be full already?
Looking at her thin, small frame again, he thought she might have a naturally poor appetite, which was why she couldn’t eat much.
Shen Qi washed her hands and returned inside the house, with Bai Yuwei following closely behind.
“Qiqi, don’t you want to form a mating bond?” He suddenly remembered her response to that Beastfolk earlier.
“No.” Shen Qi replied without hesitation.
“Qiqi… I want you to become my Female.”
Seeing his determined gaze, Shen Qi lowered her eyes and softly parted her lips to speak. “I may not stay here permanently, and I don’t want to form a mating bond with a Male Beast either.”
Hearing her rejection, he felt dejected for a moment but continued to ask, “Then what kind of Male Beast do you like?”
“I won’t like any Male Beast.”
A mate felt as restrictive as marriage. She didn’t like that feeling and considered a mate nothing but a burden.
Besides, she had known him for less than a day, and he already wanted to form a mating bond with her. No matter how she thought about it, it seemed unreliable.
“How can you live without a mate? A Female without a Male Beast’s protection can easily die!”
“I can protect myself.”
“Even if you don’t form a mating bond with me, I will still protect you.” As a Male Beast, protecting a Female was only right. He could wait for her to slowly accept him.
“Alright, time to sleep. I’ll wash this stuff off my face first.”
“I prepared some water. Qiqi, you can wash over there.” Seeing she didn’t want to continue this topic, Bai Yuwei tactfully stopped pressing further.
Shen Qi looked where he pointed. In the originally empty spot, several large leaves filled with water had appeared.
Shen Qi washed the mud and dirt off her face, revealing a fair, delicate face. Water droplets trickled down her cheeks, blending into her black bodysuit.
Seeing this breathtaking beauty again, Bai Yuwei was still so stunned he couldn’t look away.
Ignoring the intense gaze beside her, she lay on the stone bed and was about to cover herself with the beast hide and close her eyes to sleep when Bai Yuwei’s handsome face leaned in. He reached out and wrapped his arm around her slender waist. “Qiqi, the night is cold. Let’s sleep together! Otherwise, you might catch a cold easily.”
Shen Qi closed her eyes, suppressing the urge to punch him. “Get down!”
Bai Yuwei got off the bed reluctantly, transformed into his Beast Form, and lay down not far from her.
Exhausted from the day, Shen Qi quickly fell asleep.
Hearing her shallow breathing, Bai Yuwei knew she was already asleep.
Gazing at her stunning profile, he watched for a long time before slowly closing his eyes to sleep.Warm sunlight streamed in, brightening the cave considerably.
Shen Qi opened her eyes and sat up, only to find herself alone in the room.
Fresh water had been placed nearby. Shen Qi washed her face and rinsed her mouth, then smeared some mud on her face before heading out to find Bai Yuwei.
Just as she stepped outside, she bumped into Bai Yuwei, who was holding several large strings of raw meat. “Qiqi, you’re awake! I was just about to roast some meat for you.”
“Just woke up.”
After they finished roasting the meat, Shen Qi suddenly asked, “Do you have rice here?”
“Rice? We don’t have that here. Only the Females in Beast City eat rice, and the gorilla tribe also grows and cooks rice.”
Beast City, gorilla tribe—Shen Qi silently noted these two tribes.
“Qiqi, I’m going hunting later. I’ll ask the Shaman’s granddaughter to come keep you company.”
Not long after Bai Yuwei left, a Female who looked kind and cheerful arrived, leading a small child by the hand.
Upon seeing Shen Qi, the Female walked over with a beaming smile. “Bai Yuwei asked me to come help take care of a Female. I thought I must have misheard him.”
“My name is Ai Chu. What’s yours?”
“I’m Shen Qi.”
Ai Chu smiled slightly. “Shen Qi, let me take you outside to look around. I’ll bring my little one along too—he can’t sit still.”
Shen Qi nodded. “Sure.” She then turned her gaze to the child Ai Chu was holding, her eyes lingering on his neck as she frowned.
“Your little one has a lot of small blisters on his neck. Does it itch or hurt?”
“You know these are blisters! My little one’s neck always itches and hurts from time to time, and these blisters keep appearing. Even my grandfather can’t cure it—he can only relieve the pain.”
“This is probably prickly heat.”
“Can you cure my little one?” Ai Chu grabbed her hand excitedly. Since she knew what the blisters were called, maybe she had a way to treat them!
“If we can find the right medicinal herb, it can be cured.”
Hearing that her child could be saved, Ai Chu felt somewhat relieved, tears glistening in her eyes. “Shen Qi, if you find the medicinal herb, could you help save my little one?”
“Don’t worry. If we find the herb, he’ll definitely be cured,” Shen Qi reassured her.
For some reason, Ai Chu found her words deeply comforting. After taking her child back home, she went out with Shen Qi to search for the medicinal herb.
Along the way, they didn’t find the herb Shen Qi needed, but they did come across some red berries that looked delicious. Shen Qi casually picked a few and placed them in her beast hide bag.
After searching a while longer, Shen Qi noticed a Beastfolk ahead with his back turned to her, and a wild boar trying to sneak up on him from behind.
“Watch out!” Seeing the wild boar preparing to attack, Shen Qi took out a small knife and flung it with precision, striking the boar squarely on its rump.
The wild boar let out a pained “oink,” thrashing wildly against a nearby tree trunk until it knocked itself unconscious.
Shen Qi pulled out her knife. She hadn’t expected the boar to knock itself out. As she looked up, she sensed a presence nearby and turned to look.
A striking figure with pale purple hair, deep purple eyes, and a tall, slender frame draped in a purple-and-white striped Beast Robe stood there.
At that moment, he was looking at her with a meaningful gaze.
This Female’s technique… was incredibly precise.
He had never seen a Female use such an object as a throwing weapon before.
There were no Females like this in his tribe. Could she be from the Tiger Tribe?Shen Qi ignored his slightly surprised gaze and looked toward the spot where he had just been standing. There lay the medicinal herb she needed—prickly heat grass.
Shen Qi confirmed this was indeed prickly heat grass, plucked a few stalks, and turned around only to meet his deep purple eyes.
He looked at her with confusion. “What are you doing with that?”