Sure enough, he walked over.
Tang Hongluan smiled, definitely the feeder type.
She dug out the two eggs and handed them to Yun Li. Then she started eating the roasted venison, not forgetting to sprinkle a bit of salt on it.
Yun Li’s eyes darkened slightly, suddenly finding the eggs in his hand unappetizing.
“This is Bi Ze’s venison!” Tang Hongluan was genuinely worried they might start fighting again.
“Tch…” His gaze shifted to the charred round bowl and the broth inside, filled with vegetables and meat.
“Want to try some?” Tang Hongluan wasn’t stingy, after all, she had her own motives.
Yun Li didn’t hold back either. He picked it up and took a sip.
Surprisingly, it tasted pretty good?
The mutton was perfectly tender, sliced thin enough that it wasn’t tough at all, soft and fragrant.
He wasn’t too fond of the greens, but they were tolerable.
The broth was delicious too. Before long, the pomelo bowl was empty.
Seeing this, Tang Hongluan sliced more mutton and brought over another pomelo peel, making two bowls in total. She cooked another batch.
One bowl for herself, one for Yun Li.
Yun Li frowned at the increasingly charred pomelo peel, then glanced around Tang Hongluan’s home, there wasn’t a single decent pot or bowl in sight.
But then again, it wasn’t surprising. Tang Hongluan had always been slovenly and erratic, proper cookware probably never mattered to her.
Yet, these past few days, she had changed. She wasn’t messy anymore, had started eating cooked food, and even… His eyes flicked unintentionally to her face. The rough, flaking skin that had once looked like tree bark now seemed much more presentable. Still coarse, but at least somewhat human.
Most importantly, she had become generous, willing to share food with others!
She had changed.
Why? Was it just because she had awakened an ability?
Yun Li didn’t bother thinking too hard about it and went back to eating from his bowl.
“I’ll find a big pot later. You can come over for meals often!” Tang Hongluan felt it was awkward for the two of them to just eat in silence, so she figured she might as well say something useful.
Yun Li didn’t respond, but he thought of the shallow shoals downstream, where the river had smoothed many stones over the years. The pot in his own dwelling had been picked up from there.
When Yun Li remained silent, Tang Hongluan stopped talking too. These people all had terrible tempers. Yun Li might seem docile now, but he could turn hostile in an instant.
Just as she was thinking this, Yun Li had already left.
Tang Hongluan’s lips twitched. All he cared about was eating! She couldn’t shake the feeling that her kindness had been wasted on an ungrateful soul.
With plenty of time left after eating, Tang Hongluan continued tidying up her new home.
Even though it was just an earthen cave dwelling, she still wanted to make it cozy!
Without a bucket, she emptied one of her woven baskets, lined it with animal hide, and made multiple trips to the stream to fetch water.
Then she started mixing mud, remembering to add some dried grass for extra durability.
But she didn’t have a shovel… Tang Hongluan stood there, frustrated. Life without tools was so inconvenient for everything.
“Hongluan…” Hai Jie’s voice came unexpectedly. She had been hiding behind the big tree near Tang Hongluan’s doorway, watching curiously, a large seashell in her hand.
“Hai Jie?” Tang Hongluan smiled. “You’re here!”
Hai Jie approached cautiously, eyes darting around warily. “I thought you might need this…” She handed the large seashell to Tang Hongluan.
Her eyes lit up, wasn’t this basically a makeshift shovel? It wasn’t perfect, but it was still better than using her hands!
“Hai Jie, thank you so much!” Tang Hongluan expressed her sincere gratitude. “By the way, I still have some wild fruits here. Would you like to try them?”
Tang Hongluan thought that if she followed the beastmen to the volcano tomorrow, the food at home would surely go bad, which would be a pity.
As she spoke, she brought out a pile of apricots, plums, and wild grapes from the house.
Hai Jie, who was closely watched by her beastmen husbands and never ventured into the back mountains, had naturally never tasted these small fruits. She tentatively tried a few and found them quite delicious. Smiling happily, she said, “Then I won’t stand on ceremony!”
She even took the woven basket Tang Hongluan had made. With that settled, Tang Hongluan focused on building her kang bed.
Drawing from her past life’s memories, she deliberately left a hole for heating the kang in winter, so she wouldn’t have to curl up shivering from the cold when winter came.
After finishing the kang, she started on the stove.
She couldn’t keep cooking over an open fire every day.
Following the same old method, she left a hole for the fire and built a somewhat decent-looking stove, all it needed was a pot on top…
After working hard all afternoon, she was just about to sit down and rest when she heard an earth-shaking tiger’s roar.
The sound was so close and so familiar that she knew instantly, it was Xiao Shuo roaring.
She just couldn’t figure out what had set him off this time…
But she couldn’t be bothered to care.
She spread the cleaned animal hides in a corner of the house. Until the kang dried completely, she’d have to make do sleeping on the floor for a few days.
No sooner had she lain down to catch her breath than an enraged, furious face appeared right in front of her, startling her into scrambling up and backing into the corner, eyes fixed on the seething, close-up face of… Xiao Shuo.
“Wh-what do you want?”
“Xiao Shuo, are you defying the old priest’s orders?” Yan Chen had also chased after him, glaring angrily at Xiao Shuo.
Tang Hongluan’s lips twitched. So, it was about tomorrow’s matter…
She stole a glance at Yan Chen. Who would’ve thought this beastman husband was so responsible, keeping such a tight watch on Xiao Shuo…
“The old priest sent me to get answers from her!” Xiao Shuo didn’t even look up, his glare fixed on Tang Hongluan. This wretched woman claimed the mountain god had spoken through her?
Ha! As if anyone would believe that!
And thirty kowtows? Xiao Shuo had never kneeled to anyone in his life! Yet now he was being played for a fool by this wretched woman.
Tang Hongluan understood, the old priest had gone to Xiao Shuo, probably couldn’t persuade him, and had dumped the problem back on her… That old man was cunning too…
Now she was left holding the bag.
After all, whatever the mountain god had said came from her mouth. No wonder Xiao Shuo was here making a scene…
But… she did feel a little guilty… After all, the thirty kowtows had just slipped out of her mouth…
Tang Hongluan let out a small “oh” and lowered her head, catching sight of the scars on Xiao Shuo’s legs.
Burned by volcanic debris, the wounds healed extremely slowly, sometimes the healing couldn’t even keep up with the festering, causing them to worsen continuously.
Still, Xiao Shuo was a fifth-tier beastman with awakened divine beast blood. Though the wounds were unlikely to deteriorate further, their healing remained sluggish.
“Answers about what?” She decided to play dumb, looking innocently at Xiao Shuo.
This damned woman, pretending ignorance? Xiao Shuo grew even angrier, suddenly leaning in until their faces were mere inches apart, close enough to feel each other’s breath.
Tang Hongluan’s heart pounded wildly, not because of the beauty within reach, but because her life hung by a thread at any moment…
“Did the mountain god really tell you to kowtow thirty times?” Xiao Shuo’s eyes gleamed with an uncharacteristic wickedness, chillingly cold, almost as if laced with mockery, as though he saw right through Tang Hongluan’s blatant lies.