Ying Kong couldn’t be bothered with pleasantries. In a cold voice, he said, "I’ve checked the female birth registry and the recent list from the Sacrificial Hall. There are two females from the Red Fox Clan, so why is only one listed? Where is the Advanced Female?"
Black Snake immediately broke out in a cold sweat. Under that gaze, sharp as a blade, his sordid thoughts felt as if they were laid bare in the sunlight. He was so terrified that a cold sweat streamed down his back.
’It’s over!’
’Did the Feng family manage to latch onto some powerful backer?!’
Black Snake’s heart felt like it would burst from fear. He froze stock-still under Ying Kong’s gaze, not daring to move.
But he didn’t dare refuse to answer. He struggled to steady his trembling body and gave the excuse he had prepared long ago, his voice shaking with unconcealable fear. "Sh-she said she was moving to the main city and took her Identity Card with her."
Ying Kong’s fierce eyes narrowed slightly.
An Advanced Female’s Identity Card was a mechanical necklace that recorded the proof of identity issued by the Sacrificial Hall. With it, the main city would arrange for the Advanced Female’s housing.
Ying Kong thought this female was the most likely candidate. He had already dispatched men to set up checkpoints in the towns leading to the main city; he had only come here to double-check.
He didn’t linger. He turned and left, intending to personally oversee the checkpoints on the roads to the main city.
Meanwhile, Feng Lian’s family—the very people thought to most likely be the ones the Young Master was looking for—were indeed heading toward the main city.
A large family of eight with no money, they couldn’t just buy a ’household registration’ like Feng Si did. But at least with an Advanced Female in their ranks, they could bring the whole family to the main city.
Since she had participated in the female’s sacrificial feast day, her status as an unmarried Advanced Female meant she would be granted special housing in the main city.
Before reaching the main city, they had only one male beast with them. After leaving the mountain range of Cang City, Feng Lian’s family could only travel on the small paths alongside the main roads teeming with beasts. They didn’t dare enter any cities or ride in a carriage.
Thus, they had no idea that someone was currently looking for them.
In the forest, thick branches blocked the scorching sunlight. Steam rose from the ground, making the air in the woods muggy and humid.
Feng Huan’s face was as dark as a thundercloud, threatening a storm. Sitting on the back of a gray wolf, she said viciously, "Damn it. I shouldn’t have been so soft-hearted as to not tie her up back then. I risked my life to give birth to her, and it turns out she was just born to collect a debt from me."
’That’s why she’s so disobedient! She refused to obediently go through with the substitute marriage I’d arranged and even made me lose a female—which means a huge sum of money!’
’If she hadn’t run away... I gave birth to an Advanced Female, Feng Lian! How could our journey to the main city have become so miserable? It should have been a grand affair, with a hundred beasts escorting us all the way.’
Feng Lun wiped the sweat from the side of her face. The large backpack she carried was making it hard for her to breathe. Walking alongside, her resentment toward Feng Si grew.
She said viciously, "Feng Si is a lone female with no Identity Card and no money. She’ll definitely come to a bad end!" ’She’ll have it much worse than I do, for sure.’
’Identity Card!!’
Feng Huan’s murky yellow eyes darted about.
She pulled two thumb-sized, gray metal vials from her clothes. One of the vials was engraved with Feng Si’s identity information and fertility level. Inside the vial were the female’s pheromones and blood.
It had been issued to Feng Si by the Cang City Sacrificial Hall after her examination. When Feng Si came home, Feng Huan had taken it for ’safekeeping’. Feng Si had fled in such a hurry that she hadn’t taken anything with her.
A flicker of delight suddenly sparked in Feng Huan’s mind.
’What if... I have a sub-female take her place as a female?’
The more Feng Huan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
She looked down at the five sub-females walking beside her and steeled her heart. ’I’ve already lost the female; am I supposed to take the financial loss too?’ "Feng Lun," she said, "I’m giving you a chance to become Feng Si."
Everyone stopped in their tracks. Feng Lun looked up in disbelief. "Me? Impersonate a female? But I can’t..."
Feng Huan’s expression hardened. "You look like Feng Si. You just need to get your ears removed cleanly. It’ll take us a month to get to the main city. By then, the wounds on your head will have healed and be hidden by your hair."
She continued, "Your brother will take the softest beast ears and carve them into the shape of a female’s ears. Then he’ll wrap them in skin from your thigh. Hidden behind your hair, your appearance will be no different from a female’s."
Feng Lian’s gaze was full of pity. "Sister Feng Lun, just endure the pain for a little while, and you can live a wonderful life afterward."
Feng Lun’s heart pounded with terror. She struggled, saying, "If I get caught, impersonating a female is a death sentence..."
Feng Huan retorted, "We have Feng Si’s Identity Card. As long as you don’t get tested, how could anyone find out?"
’I have plenty of sub-female daughters. If this one doesn’t work out, I can just find a low-level Beastman and have more.’
’If Feng Lun is discovered, it’s her crime alone. But I’ll get an extra hundred thousand coins a year, and I can also collect a huge partnering fee when ’Feng Si’ finds a mate.’
With that thought, an impatient look crossed Feng Huan’s face. She ordered the other sub-female daughters, "Hold her down. Feng Kai, you’ll do it in a moment. Make sure you cut the ears off cleanly."
The sub-female daughters beside her obediently held Feng Lun down. Feng Lun didn’t struggle, her face pale as she thought.
’As long as a female isn’t in her heat period, there’s no way to tell her rank without verification at the Sacrificial Hall. This Identity Card is the only proof of a female’s rank.’
’From now on, I am Feng Si.’
...
After that incident, some sub-females who were green with envy tried to sell white-cut meat as well, only to lose money. As a result, Feng Si’s cooked food stall’s reputation grew even more, and the nearby sub-females only dared to watch from a distance, no longer rashly trying to set up their own meat stalls.
Feng Si didn’t know what had happened to Bai Dan and Bai Qi; they didn’t set up their stall today. When Feng Si came out to set up her stall the next day, the one or two spots next to hers were empty.
Things on Feng Si’s end were quite calm, and she was in a good mood.
Thanks to her unique white-cut meat, she had earned 35,880 coins in the last two days. After deducting the cost of the raw ingredients, it was simply...
Exorbitant profit!
This morning, it was her turn to go out gathering. In the few short days she’d been in Nantong City, she had already made her own little friends: Mao Qiu, Mao Lian, and Mao Hua, three sisters from the Mao Family.
At the edge of the forest, Feng Si gave Bai Qingqing the cloth bag she had promised her last time. Then, with a small basket on her back, she followed the three Mao Family sisters into the woods.
Along the way, she picked up pinecones and tossed them into her space, listening to the notification sound in her mind.
The thought that collecting Dust Breath could expand her space filled Feng Si with joy.
Seeing the freckled sub-female occasionally bending over but not picking anything up, Mao Qiu fell a step behind to wait for her and advised, "The rainy season is coming soon. The gathering teams will stop then. Green potatoes only last for ten days. If you’re hoarding food, you should trade for hardy sweet potatoes instead."
Last time, she had bought all of Mao Qiu’s green potatoes. This time, before setting out, she had once again set the team’s goal to green potatoes. However many they gathered, she would buy them all after deducting the portion they had to turn in.
’With others around, it’s inconvenient to use my space to store things.’
Feng Si straightened up and was about to speak when a wave of nausea suddenly washed over her.