With a complicated expression, Feng Si got up from the bed, slipped on the shoes placed beside it, and walked toward the gray-eared young woman at the door, Feng Lun.
’I just transmigrated into a strange world and know nothing about this place. Rather than tremble in fear and make wild guesses, I should find someone to ask for information.’
She looked at Feng Lun, her gaze landing almost imperceptibly on the young woman’s pair of fluffy gray ears.
’She must be family.’
A small smile touched the corners of Feng Si’s lips. "I’ll help you grind the grain."
"...Huh?" This was not what Feng Lun had expected.
Her mother had previously told her to keep a close eye on Feng Si and not let her leave the house.
She glanced around. The window at the end of the corridor was open, letting sunlight stream in. The doors to the four rooms along the hallway were all shut. Right now, the sub-female sisters had gone hunting with their brothers, while her mother and Feng Lian were napping, waiting for her to finish cooking.
And now someone was offering to help—and it was Feng Si, of all people, who had always looked down on her and never once called her "sister."
"You said it yourself. Come with me, then." Feng Lun, who felt little sisterly affection for Feng Si, dropped the door curtain and turned to lead the way.
Feng Si hurried to follow, sizing up her surroundings as she walked behind Feng Lun.
The house was built from bluestone, the gaps between the rounded stones filled with yellow mud. She lived on the second floor, which had a total of five rooms.
Following the wooden staircase down to the first floor, they entered a large, empty central room that seemed to serve as the kitchen, as this was where Feng Lun stopped. Besides this space, there were four other rooms downstairs.
A long dining table sat in the middle of the room. A square stove was built against one wall, with a deep, black iron pot resting on top. On a six-shelf cabinet against another wall, plates of all sizes were neatly arranged.
’As rustic as ever.’
Feng Lun carried a stone mortar to a corner of the room and scooped a large ladleful of yellow, grain-like kernels from a wooden barrel that was half as tall as she was.
While Feng Lun was busy, Feng Si turned and walked to the main entrance to look outside. A thicket of green weeds choked the doorway. Farther out, towering trees stretched as far as the eye could see, a dense and endless canopy.
’This place... is it built deep in some ancient forest?’
"Feng Si! What do you think you’re doing?!" Turning to see Feng Si by the door, Feng Lun jumped in fright. She quickly rushed over, still holding the stone mortar, and used her free hand to grab Feng Si’s slender, pale wrist.
Feng Si looked at Feng Lun, bewildered. "I’m just standing here looking out the door. What are you so worked up about?"
Feng Lun pulled Feng Si a few steps back inside, away from the door, before releasing her. "I’m telling you, don’t just wander off by yourself. A low-level female like you is a walking target for powerful Beastmen, an object to be captured and imprisoned. You came of age yesterday. If a Beastman abducts you, you’ll be reduced to their plaything."
Feng Lun shoved the stone mortar into Feng Si’s arms. After her attempt to scare her, she snorted coldly. "I’m protecting you. You need to understand that females are also divided into levels. You aren’t the kind of female that powerful figures would fight over. Even for a lesser choice, they would still pick your sister Feng Lian, an Advanced female with high fertility."
’What in the world is this?’ Feng Si thought. ’Whatever happened to females being revered and honored?’
Hugging the stone mortar, she walked to the dining table. As she began pounding the grain with a stone pestle, she listened to Feng Lun’s rambling and started to piece together her current predicament.
In this Beast World, sub-females had ordinary fertility but could only give birth to Beastmen of average combat strength and other sub-females.
Females, on the other hand, could give birth to other females as well as powerful Beastmen, which gave them their special status.
However, females themselves were divided into four levels: Special Level, Advanced, Intermediate, and low-level. The higher the level, the higher the fertility and the more powerful the offspring. Bloodline determined strength, so females were extremely sought after.
Their mother, Feng Huan, was an Intermediate Female. She had taken a mate from the Tiger Clan and given birth to Feng Lian, then taken a mate from the Wolf Clan—Feng Si’s father—and given birth to her.
Their family now had nine members in total. She was the youngest female daughter. And though they lived within Cang City, their standard of living was that of a declining family.
A sense of crisis welled up uncontrollably in Feng Si’s heart. A family with no powerful Beastmen, yet possessing two adult females.
’The thought alone is terrifying,’ she mused. ’It’s like being a toddler holding two gold bricks. You never know when danger will strike.’
’Damn it. I knew this second chance at life wouldn’t be so easy.’
Agitated, Feng Si pounded the grain. Amidst the THUD-THUD of the stone pestle, the dry husks began to flake away, revealing the off-white kernels within.
Feng Lun was a gray wolf sub-female and one of a set of triplets. She hadn’t inherited her mother’s features, instead taking after her father with a long, sharp face. She watched Feng Si struggle for a while, noticing that the grain in the mortar looked almost untouched.
She snatched the mortar back. "Let me do it," she said to Feng Si. "This grain is for you, Mother, and Feng Lian. If Mother wakes up and the meat and grain porridge isn’t ready, I’ll be the one to get an earful."
’I should have known. Females are so delicate. They don’t have to do any work from the moment they’re born; their families provide everything for them. How could she possibly know how to grind grain?’
’I was really expecting too much, thinking I could get her to help. She’s more of a hindrance than anything.’
"The three of us are eating this, so what does everyone else eat? Let me help make it." Feng Si wasn’t annoyed that the task she’d been using to occupy her mind had been taken away. She planned to ask about it and offer to cook something else as a way to distract herself.
Feng Lun pointed to the top shelf of the cabinet. "Nutrient paste. One tube keeps you full for half a day. Natural food is expensive; only you females get to eat it for every meal."
Feng Si’s gaze traveled upward. The shelf was filled with rows of canisters, each about the size of a canned beverage.
This was yet another reminder of the disparity in status. For a moment, she felt deeply conflicted, unsure whether it was more tragic to have become a female—a walking baby-maker—or a sub-female with the lowest social standing.
Feng Si sat at the dining table, stunned.
’Now that there’s a worse status to compare it to, being a female doesn’t seem quite so hard to accept anymore.’
’Come to think of it, all my close relatives in the modern world were long gone. I was the only one left. Since I can’t go back, I might as well just accept my fate and embrace this new life with a big family.’
’At least here, as the youngest female daughter in the family, I won’t have to worry about life being too difficult.’
At this thought, Feng Si’s heart quickly calmed. The emotional roller coaster left her feeling a bit drowsy, and she sat at the table, propping her chin on her hand.
Inside, Feng Lun got up to start the stove and set the pot on it. With her head bowed over her work, her eyes periodically flicked between Feng Si and the main entrance, watching them both intently.
...
That night, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.
The leaves outside rustled in the wind as a torrential rain began to fall. Feng Si couldn’t sleep, her mind still reeling from her sudden transmigration. On top of that, she had come up to rest without eating dinner, and now she was starting to feel hungry.
Feng Si climbed out of bed. Careful not to wake anyone, she quietly lifted the door curtain and began to feel her way downstairs in the darkness. As she reached the landing of the wooden staircase, a faint, flickering light drifted up from below.