“Xiao Nan, come down.
Mother will give you a bath.”
“No way.
I’m not taking a bath.”
“If you don’t, you’re not allowed to sleep in the bed tonight.”
Xi Nan flicked his tail.
“Fine, I won’t sleep then.
I don’t care.”
“You’ve got poop on your butt.”
Xi Nan’s body stiffened.
He twisted his head around in disbelief, subconsciously lifting his tail to look, but he managed to stop himself.
“Big Brother, Mother is lying to you.”
“…”
Xi Yao had successfully provoked a fuming Xi Nan.
Watching Xi Nan leap even higher in agitation, Xi Yao awkwardly touched her nose.
‘What can I do?
I made this mess, so I have to be the one to clean it up.’
“Xiao Nan, be good.
Mother won’t hurt you.”
Xi Nan pretended not to hear, covering his ears with his tail.
Xi Yao: “…”
After a long time trying to coax him, the little cub completely ignored her.
Xi Yao felt both helpless and heartbroken.
But she had to harden her heart, climb the tree, and pull him down.
‘He has to overcome his fear of the river.
This world is so cruel; he can’t have such a major weakness.’
Bathing Xi Nan wasn’t as smooth as bathing Xi Bei.
He thrashed around so much that the splashing water soaked a large patch of her animal-skin skirt.
Unable to hold back, she gave his fluffy butt a light swat.
That swat made her heart ache even more.
Beneath the fluffy fur was a scrawny, bony body.
All she could feel was his skeleton.
He was the eldest, yet he had less flesh on his bones than Xi Bei.
Having been spanked, Xi Nan glared at her, humiliated and annoyed.
But his gaze met her reddened eyes, which held a look of heartache he had never seen before.
His struggling stopped.
“If you’re going to wash me, then do it quickly.”
‘I’ll go along with her this one time, since she’s crying!’
Xi Yao sniffled and applied body wash on him.
This time, Xi Nan was surprisingly cooperative.
The bath finished smoothly, and Xi Yao placed him next to Xi Bei.
She looked at Xi Mo and patted his head.
“Ah Mo isn’t dirty, you don’t need a bath.”
Xi Mo was relieved, but also a little disappointed.
He nodded without saying anything.
Xi Yao took out the wild boar and began to butcher it with a knife.
An hour had passed by the time she finished gutting and dressing it.
The three little ones watched her, completely shocked, but they had a tacit understanding not to ask any questions.
“Xi Nan, roast this piece.”
She glanced at the time on her terminal; it was already two in the afternoon.
She handed a freshly cut piece of lean meat to Xi Nan, who was watching from the side.
Xi Nan took the meat, found two branches, skewered the meat, and started a fire by the river.
“Mother, is this right?”
Xi Bei also took a piece of meat and started roasting it.
As he turned the skewer, he turned his head to ask his mother.
She smiled and nodded.
“Yes, just watch the heat so you don’t burn it.”
Before long, the aroma of meat drifted through the air, making the three little ones’ stomachs rumble.
“It smells so good!
I can barely wait,” Xi Bei said, bringing the roasted meat close to his face and sniffing deeply.
“It’s almost ready, just a little longer.”
Xi Nan fought to control his desire to eat, continuing to roast the meat diligently.
When the meat was cooked, Xi Nan handed it to Xi Yao.
Xi Yao divided the meat into four portions, one for each of the three cubs and one for herself.
After eating the roasted meat, Xi Yao went back to processing the wild boar.
She skinned it, cut the meat into strips, packed it into a bucket, and stored it in her space.
After that, Xi Yao carefully washed the boar bones and packed them away, planning to take them back to make bone broth.
‘The three little ones are too thin.
They need to be properly nourished.’
The sun gradually sank in the west, painting the horizon with an orange-red sunset.
“Mother, we should head back.
It will be hard to travel after dark,” Xi Mo reminded her.
Xi Yao looked up at the sky and nodded.
“You’re right, it’s time to go back.”
…
When they returned to the cave, they almost thought they’d come to the wrong one.
A large pile of fist-sized logs was stacked next to the entrance.
Xi Yao looked at the mountain of wood, thinking it should be more than enough for a fence.
Just then, Kai arrived, carrying a butchered animal on his back.
“Xi Yao, see if this is enough wood.
If not, we’ll go chop more for you tomorrow.”
“It’s enough, thank you.” ‘They’re busy hunting for the winter too.
I can’t keep asking them for help.’
“You saved our Duoduo.
It’s the least we could do.”
Kai brought the animal into the cave.
“This is a thank-you gift for you.
I’ll just leave it here.”
…
After Kai left, she turned to look at the pile of wood, her mind already calculating how to build the fence.
Xi Bei sidled up to Xi Yao and asked curiously, “Mother, what’s this wood for?
For burning?”
“There’s enough here to last us the entire cold season.”
Xi Yao patted his head and shook hers, explaining, “We’re going to build a sturdy fence to protect our cave.
That way, if any danger comes, we’ll be safer.”
Xi Bei didn’t understand what a “fence” was, but he still nodded.
“I want to help too.”
“Okay, you’re such a good boy, Little Bei.”
It was too late today to start digging holes for the fence, but she could at least make a door for the cave first.
Xi Yao measured the cave entrance and began to saw the wood.
She joined several logs of the same size and length, fastening them with nails.
Then, she took a black titanium alloy plate from her space and fixed it onto the wooden door.
She then fixed another layer of joined logs over the outside, making it look both secure and inconspicuous.
The door frame was also reinforced with titanium alloy and wood.
Once the frame was installed, Xi Yao stepped back a few paces to examine her masterpiece.
It looked no different from an ordinary wooden door.
She was very satisfied.
She added special locks to both the inside and outside.
Now, no one could get in except for them.
The sky had long since turned pitch-black.
Outside the cave, a torch was stuck in the ground, and Xi Nan was cooking meat soup.
She closed the door and took a solar-powered lamp from her space.
Xi Yao hung the lamp in a suitable spot inside the cave, and when she pressed the switch, a soft light instantly illuminated the entire cave, dispelling the darkness.
“Mother, this is so bright!
It’s much better than a torch!”
Xi Bei ran over excitedly, circling the lamp several times with eyes full of curiosity and wonder.
Xi Yao smiled and nodded.
“Mhm, with this lamp, it’ll be much more convenient for us in the cave at night, and we won’t have to worry about the torch going out.”
Just then, the meat soup Xi Nan was making was ready, and its rich aroma filled the entire cave.
Xi Yao took out bowls and chopsticks from her space, ladled the soup for them, and placed it on a nearby stone slab.
Xi Mo sipped the soup, feeling very content.
‘He really liked this new Mother.’
‘I hope she stays like this forever.’
Watching the three cubs eat happily, Xi Yao’s heart felt warm as well.
“Eat up.
You’re all at a growing age.”
‘The cave isn’t very large.
I definitely can’t cook in here in the future, the smoke is too much.’
‘But it would be inconvenient to cook outside if it rains.’
‘The best solution is to expand it,’ she thought, carefully studying the cave.
‘That will have to be done slowly.’
The cold season in the Beast World lasted for three months.
When the time came, heavy snow would seal the mountains, and all plants and animals would be buried under thick snow, making it impossible to go out, let alone hunt.
That wasn’t even the most dangerous part.
During the cold season, food was scarce, and large beasts unable to find prey would set their sights on the tribes.
Other tribes would also raid each other for supplies in order to survive.
The mutual slaughter—that was the most dangerous thing of all.
She had carefully observed the tribe’s situation.
They had practically no defensive measures, just a simple barrier made of a few logs.
It couldn’t even stop a beast attack, let alone an invasion from another tribe.
The only advantage was that their location was remote enough.
The nearest tribe was a five-day journey away, so they weren’t likely to attract raiders.
The immediate problem to solve was the issue of beast attacks.
In the original owner’s memories, there had been a beast rampage that attacked the tribe just last year.
During that incident, more than thirty male Beastmen were eaten, and over a hundred were injured.
It could only be described as a tragedy.