Feng Si followed Bai Qingqing. The two of them weren’t far from the main group, and the happy cries of the others could occasionally be heard from the forest. As Bai Qingqing walked, she shared her gathering experience with her.
The two of them twisted and turned through the forest, pushing aside branches until they came to a slightly more open area. A small patch of ground was covered in vines with green leaves, the leaves themselves heart-shaped and round.
"We’re here. The jicama vines in this patch are also very sweet and delicious," Bai Qingqing said cheerfully. She put down her basket, took out an iron knife, and bent over to start cutting the vines.
Feng Si took out the dagger she had bought earlier. She cut a vine, used the dagger to loosen the soil around it, then grabbed the base of the vine with both hands and pulled upward with all her might.
A string of fist-sized, earthy-yellow tubers broke through the soil. After the dirt rustled off, there were six in total. At the same time, a notification in her mind told her she had collected 6 points of Dust Breath.
Feng Si patted the dirt off the jicama in her hand and placed it in her cloth bag. For a food that was somewhere between a sweet potato and a regular potato, her craving for starch filled her with energy.
The two of them buried their heads in their work, digging diligently. Before long, Feng Si’s cloth bag was full. This time, another notification sounded in her mind.
[Collected one hundred points of Dust Breath. Gathering experience has reached Level 2. Space has expanded to two square meters.]
While working with an outsider, Feng Si couldn’t risk using her space.
She straightened up, holding her cloth bag, and looked at Bai Qingqing, who was still digging for jicama. "I’m going to look around. I want to search for some wild fruit."
Uninterested in fruit, Bai Qingqing didn’t even look up. "Don’t go too far. The sun will be high soon, and we’ll have to head back."
Feng Si grunted in agreement and walked deeper into the forest with her cloth bag. The moment her figure was completely hidden by the tall grass, she transferred the contents of the bag into her space.
She folded the empty cloth bag and stuffed it into her pocket. Now empty-handed, Feng Si rubbed her lower back. As she walked through the forest, she picked up all the fallen pinecones and tossed them into her space. Anything she recognized along the way, she picked some and threw it in as well.
She strolled through the forest with a relaxed expression. Parting a clump of weeds taller than a person, she came face-to-face with three cat-eared sub-females.
Each of their baskets was filled to the brim. Feng Si was half a head shorter than them and was covered in dirt, but her hands were empty. She looked as thin and weak as a female.
"Haven’t you found anything to eat yet? It’s almost time to go back," one of the sub-females, who had round eyes, asked.
"I have found food," Feng Si said.
The round-eyed sub-female glanced at Feng Si’s disheveled appearance, then turned around and pulled a green root from her basket. She offered the food, which resembled a daikon radish, to Feng Si. "Boil this with water. It’s very filling. Here, take it."
All the food she’d gathered was in her space, and she hadn’t dug up any of this green food before. She looked up and saw the pity in the sub-female’s round eyes.
"..."
"It’s a gift. The first time I came into the forest, I couldn’t find anything to eat either." The round-eyed one shoved the green root into Feng Si’s hands and gestured to her. "Come on, stick with us."
The other two didn’t object. They tilted their heads and curiously sized up the sub-female before them. Her skin was very pale, which made the dark spots on her face stand out. She was weak, her survival skills were poor, and if she couldn’t even support herself, her ability to raise cubs would be even worse.
’How pitiful...’
’She must have been kicked out by her family after coming of age because she’s so weak.’
’And she probably doesn’t even know that sub-females like her are very unpopular with male beasts.’
The two looked at Feng Si with sympathy. They thought that for such a weak sub-female who hadn’t given up on herself even after being driven out by her mother, to be struggling so hard to survive... it was enough to make any beastman feel a rare sense of pity. So, they also told Feng Si to follow them.
Feng Si had no idea the three were pitying her. Faced with their kindness, she didn’t refuse and followed them forward.
’My space is almost full anyway,’ she thought. ’All I have to do now is fill the cloth bag.’
Following the three sub-females, Feng Si dug up two more bags of the green roots before they all started heading back.
After walking for a while, all sorts of roars echoed from not far away, followed by the sound of heavy trampling.
"It’s the male beasts chasing a thick-armed beast! Quick, hide behind a tree!" the three experienced sub-females said, pulling Feng Si to hide behind a thick tree trunk.
Feng Si hid behind the tree, her heart pounding. As the sounds grew closer, she couldn’t resist peeking out to look.
She saw a giant beast over eight meters long run past. Its four limbs were stout, and it weighed at least six tons. Its cumbersome body staggered forward as it fled, covered in bite marks, looking like it was in its death throes.
Trailing behind it, gray rats the size of cars shot forward, giving the beast no chance to catch its breath. They leaped onto its body, bit down, and held on tight.
"BANG!"
The colossal creature fell, flattening a wide area. Branches and leaves flew everywhere as bright red blood flowed from under its dark hide, staining the withered pine needles on the ground.
Watching from behind the tree, Feng Si’s scalp tingled with fear.
AHH!
’Their prey... it’s like a prehistoric dinosaur!’
Feng Si’s eyes widened, her expression one of disbelief.
She had previously thought that if her identity as a female was exposed and she couldn’t adapt to the culture here, she could just take a space full of food and flee to the Ten Thousand Mountains to live alone in the Wild Forest.
Isolate herself from the whole world.
But now she realized just how damn stupid that idea was.
The thick-armed beast lay motionless on the ground. One by one, the gray rats transformed into muscular men. Some of them held sharp long bone knives and began to butcher the prey on the spot.
"The Empire has been conscripting another batch of warriors recently. With fewer adult male beasts in our city, these big guys almost broke through the safe zone. When we get back, we’ll have to report to the Lord and ask for more patrols," said Mouse Ridge, the leader of the Hunting Team, as he stood on the thick-armed beast’s head.
"I wonder how the war with the Northern Wilderness is going. According to the broadcasts, we’ve already retreated to the base of Peak Mountain."
They chatted as they worked, their hands moving quickly. They removed the internal organs and set them aside, then separated the meat from the thick hide for separate storage.
The male beasts talked about the war, but their expressions were completely relaxed. Listening from behind the tree after recovering from the shock, Feng Si was utterly confused.
Another, middle-aged voice immediately cleared up her confusion. "We will definitely win. We have Young Master Jie."
After they finished carving up the thick-armed beast, Mouse Ridge, who had long since spotted the four sub-females hiding behind the tree, called out, "You can come out now. It’s time to go back anyway. I’ll lead you out of the mountains."
"Uncle Ling, can you give each of us a small, meaty bone today~?" a cat-eared sub-female asked as she stepped out from behind the tree. Her eyes were fixed on the mountain of meat as she spoke to the Hunting Team’s Mountain Chief, who lived in the same building as her.
Mouse Ridge looked over and noticed a thin, unfamiliar sub-female. He was about to refuse when his gaze froze. The other Beastmen, who were shouldering chunks of meat, also paused when they looked forward.
As everyone’s eyes fixed on her, a chill rose from the bottom of Feng Si’s heart.
’No way!’
’Have they discovered my identity as a female?’