The Bataang Tribe had been having a rough time lately.
Winter had passed, and more than half of the tribe’s food stores had been consumed.
The prey in spring was particularly ferocious, and the strongest male in the tribe was only two stars.
Every hunting trip only brought back barely enough prey to cover the tribe’s daily food needs, and many males would get injured by Wild Beasts.
If things continued like this, the females and cubs wouldn’t be well-provided for.
The cubs would suffer from malnutrition, and the females would leave the tribe to seek a more prosperous one.
Then, the Bataang Tribe would disappear completely.
This was why the Bataang Tribe’s leader decided to target the Liaoshui Tribe.
If he could just swindle some food from them, they could survive this difficult period.
Once the Wild Beasts weren’t so ferocious, they could hunt more prey to store.
After all, Su Yu had once been a female of their Bataang Tribe.
How could they just give a female to the Liaoshui Tribe for free?
Even if that female had low Fertility and was disabled, she was still a female.
So what if she couldn’t bear cubs?
She could still be a tool-female to help males relieve the impurities in their bodies, right?
Jinwei said guiltily, “I’m sorry, leader.
I…
I wasn’t paying attention.”
“But I did see a lot of gleaming golden fruits on their stall.
I heard the Beastmen who traded for them say the fruit is filling and delicious.”
The Batang Leader nodded thoughtfully, took a bite of the dry jerky in his hand, and said, “In a bit, find a way to lure Su Yu out.”
The Batang Leader spoke earnestly, “Don’t just tell her right away that the tribe wants her to pay back the food used to raise her all these years.
First, play the sympathy card, tell her a sob story…”
Before he could finish, Jinwei said in astonishment, “Me?
I just fought with her male.
She must hate my guts.
Why would she possibly come out with me?”
“If not you, then who?
Besides you, who in our tribe has a better relationship with Su Yu?”
The Batang Leader said irritably, “Don’t worry, she won’t hate you.
That female, Su Yu…
she used to like you.”
He paused, then continued, “She told me before that she wanted to mate with you.”
“Even without all that, you used to give her food.
For that reason alone, she won’t make things too difficult for you.”
The Batang Leader hadn’t interacted with the current Su Yu yet and didn’t know her personality had changed.
He still thought Su Yu felt the same way about Jinwei as she used to.
And so, he entrusted this difficult task to Jinwei.
The Batang Leader clapped him on the shoulder.
“Females are all soft-hearted.
Tell her your sob story.
If she has any conscience, she’ll give you the food willingly.”
“If she doesn’t, then just hold her back for a while.
After I get what I want from the Liaoshui Tribe’s leader, I’ll let her go.”
The Batang Leader knew that their Fox Beastmen and Monkey Beastmen stood no chance against the Liaoshui Tribe’s Wolf Beastmen in a direct confrontation.
Therefore, they could only win by wits.
Use Su Yu to restrain them and make them hand over the food willingly.
Jinwei looked like he wanted to say something but stopped himself.
Finally, he nodded.
“I’ll try.”
The Batang Leader patted his shoulder, stood up, and left.
Jinwei remained seated, his gaze drifting back to Su Yu involuntarily.
The female next to her must have said something, because Su Yu was blushing and gave her a playful tap.
Looking at her now, Su Yu really was different from before.
She had changed so much.
The change made her seem like a stranger to Jinwei, and his eyes couldn’t help but follow her.
“Jinwei, what are you looking at?” Hu Ya’s delicate voice came from behind him.
Jinwei flinched and quickly stood up, denying it.
“N-Nothing.
I wasn’t looking at anything.”
He offered the stone stool he had just tidied up to Hu Ya, saying, “I just grilled some meat, Ayala.
Would you like to try some?”
For some reason, Jinwei felt inexplicably guilty.
Hu Ya walked over and sat down, a bitter smile on her face.
“I know.
You still haven’t forgotten that female, Su Yu.”
“No!” Jinwei denied it flatly, looking at Hu Ya earnestly.
“Ayala, you’re the only female I care about!”
“I admit, I was looking at Su Yu just now.
I was just wondering how she could have changed so much.
Before, she didn’t even dare to lift her head…”
Hu Ya lowered her head, silent, looking heartbroken.
Jinwei’s heart ached for her.
He stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Hu Ya, pouring out his feelings, but Hu Ya just looked at him with red, aggrieved eyes.
Jinwei grew anxious, afraid Hu Ya truly didn’t believe in his feelings for her.
Gritting his teeth, he said with grave sincerity, “Ayala, I will prove my feelings to you!
You’re the only female in my heart!”
After speaking, Jinwei asked another female Beastman to keep her company, then turned and strode toward Su Yu.
The moment he left, the aggrieved expression on Hu Ya’s face vanished without a trace.
The female sitting beside her saw the change and silently scooted a little farther away.
Sang Guo was teasing Su Yu with some bawdy talk, naughtily asking her how it felt when she and Shi Wei mated.
Su Yu was thin-skinned, and with males all around straining their ears to listen, she was too embarrassed to say a thing.
As they were roughhousing, Sang Guo was the first to spot Jinwei striding toward them.
She immediately grew wary, jumping to her feet to stand in front of Su Yu and pointing at him as she yelled, “Hey, hey, hey!
You classless male!
What are you doing here again!”
“Su Yu hasn’t done anything to your tribe’s Hu Ya this time!”
Jinwei stopped in his tracks, his face flushing red.
He stammered, “I’m not here to cause trouble for Su Yu.
I…
I came to apologize to her.”
Jinwei looked at Su Yu.
“Su Yu, can you come with me for a moment?”
Su Yu remained firmly seated on the rock and shook her head.
“No.”
She put on an innocent expression.
“I can’t see at night.
You hate me so much, what if you deliberately lead me somewhere dangerous?”
Jinwei flushed with anger and shame.
“What nonsense are you spouting!
I may hate you, but I’m not the kind of male who would hurt a female!”
‘I just want to bring Su Yu over and declare my feelings for Hu Ya right in front of her, to show Hu Ya how I feel!’
‘How could Su Yu think I’m so vicious!
She really is as annoying as ever!’
Su Yu blinked.
“Who knows.
Anyway, I’m not going anywhere with you before Shi Wei gets back.”
Jinwei was furious and was about to retort with a few sharp words when a beast’s roar suddenly echoed from outside Red Flower Valley, accompanied by a male Beastman’s shout: “Stray Beast attack!
Protect your tribe’s females!”
Chaos instantly erupted in Red Flower Valley.
The males, who had been relaxing just moments before, instantly grew vigilant, shifted into their beast forms, and surrounded their respective tribes’ females.
Jinwei’s expression changed drastically.
He shifted into his beast form and sprinted toward his own tribe to protect Hu Ya.
Before leaving, Jinwei gave Su Yu a look, as if guided by some unseen force.
Seeing her panicked yet trying hard to remain calm, he faltered for a moment.
And it was in that moment of hesitation that Jinwei saw a giant crocodile burst out from the ground of Red Flower Valley!
The Crocodile Beastman, Yarui, identified the scent of the female he had sensed by the creek earlier, turned his head, and charged straight for Su Yu!