When she opened her eyes, she found the three little ones sprawled on her in different positions.
Xi Nan was lying on her head, his fluffy tail wrapped around her neck.
Xi Bei was lying sideways across her chest, fast asleep.
Xi Mo’s head was pillowed on her stomach, his paws still clutching the corner of her pajamas.
Xi Yao looked at the three little ones on her, not knowing whether to laugh or be exasperated.
“Darlings, wake up.
Mother can barely breathe under all this weight.”
Xi Nan whimpered groggily, his tail twitching and tickling Xi Yao with its fluff.
Xi Bei rolled over, still sleeping soundly with his belly up, his little paws unconsciously clutching at Xi Yao’s loose hair.
“…”
Xi Mo, however, was the first to wake up.
He lifted his head and looked at Xi Yao with sleepy eyes.
“Good morning, Ah Mo!”
Xi Mo wagged his tail, a little embarrassed.
‘Her scent is so comforting.
I haven’t slept this soundly in ages.’
Seeing that Xi Bei was still asleep, he nudged him with his head.
Xi Bei mumbled, rolled over, and tried to go back to sleep.
Xi Mo reached out a paw and tugged on his ear.
Xi Bei finally lifted his head slowly, his eyes still hazy with sleep.
“Is it morning already?”
The cave door was thick, so no sunlight could get in.
The inside of the cave was still dim.
Xi Mo hopped off the bed and opened the cave door, and a blinding white light flooded in.
Xi Bei and Xi Nan were finally wide awake.
Xi Yao led them out of the cave.
The newly built fence was very high.
From the cave entrance, she couldn’t see outside at all, which gave her a great sense of security.
Xi Yao glanced at the few remaining logs.
There were just enough to make a simple wooden gate.
But the sun was out today, and she had other things to do.
First, she had to wash the animal hide blanket and sleeping pads.
Then, she needed to find a way to trade for some salt to cure meat.
She also had to gather firewood and forage for food.
A pile of chores awaited her.
“Mother, do you really have to wash it?
If you do, what will we sleep on tonight?”
“Don’t worry.
I’ll give you new blankets tonight.”
She had originally wanted to throw away the dirty, heavy animal hide blanket, but she worried the cold season would be too frigid and her comforter wouldn’t be warm enough.
Xi Yao tossed the animal hide blanket into the river.
The water instantly turned murky as dark brown filth bloomed in the current, releasing a foul odor.
“Mother, that stinks so bad!” Xi Bei said, wrinkling his nose.
“Yeah, it does!
How did we not notice how bad it smelled before?” Xi Nan chimed in.
Xi Yao poked the hide with a stick, and even more dirty water billowed out.
The sight made her skin crawl.
‘This hide blanket looked clean enough, but I can’t believe it was this filthy.’
Still, she answered their question.
“It’s never been washed before, so a lot of grime has built up.
Of course it’s going to stink.”
Xi Yao didn’t ask them for help, getting into the river to scrub it herself.
The hide was too big to scrub by hand, so she had to stomp on it with her feet.
Washing just this one piece took her a whole hour.
After getting it clean, she discovered an even bigger problem: she couldn’t pull it out of the water by herself.
It was already heavy, and being waterlogged made it even heavier.
“Need a hand?”
Chongming had been watching her struggle for a while and finally couldn’t resist jumping down from the tree.
The sudden voice startled Xi Yao.
She turned her head and saw a strange man leaping gracefully down from a tree.
He was lithe and powerful, exuding an innate, noble air that was completely different from the Beastmen she usually encountered.
“Who are you?”
Xi Yao asked warily, her hand unconsciously tightening on the woven vine at her waist.
Chongming raised an eyebrow slightly.
‘She’s quite guarded.’
“I am Chongming, the leader of the Feather Clan Tribe.
I was just passing by and came down when I saw you needed help.”
Xi Yao’s heart skipped a beat.
‘Feather Clan?
Chongming?’
‘Isn’t he the main villain from the book?’
At the thought, she silently took two steps back.
Chongming pretended not to notice her small action.
He stepped forward, grabbed a corner of the hide blanket, and effortlessly pulled it from the water.
Xi Yao watched how easily he did it and marveled inwardly.
‘This villain is incredibly strong.’
But she remained on guard.
“Thank you for your help, but why are you here?”
Chongming spread the hide out on the nearby grass and dusted off his hands.
“Like I said, I’m just passing by.”
His gaze fell upon Xi Yao.
“But what about you?
Why is a female washing such a heavy hide all by herself?”
“What’s it to you?”
Chongming raised an eyebrow, not angered in the least.
Instead, he watched her with amusement.
“It was just a casual question.
You don’t have to be so defensive.”
Xi Yao pressed her lips together.
‘She didn’t believe for a second that he just happened to show up here.’
“In any case, thank you for your help.
I won’t keep you any longer.”
But Chongming showed no intention of leaving.
Instead, he sat down on a nearby rock, crossed his arms, and studied Xi Yao intently.
Xi Yao frowned.
Though she was annoyed, she couldn’t very well force him to leave.
She turned away and went back to washing the remaining hide pads.
They had been soaking for a while, so the river had already washed away most of the dirt.
They came clean with just a few scrubs.
Xi Bei tilted his head, looking Chongming up and down.
“You’re not from our tribe.
Where are you from?”
Xi Nan pulled Xi Bei behind him, staring warily at the stranger.
Just as Chongming was about to answer, Xi Yao cut him off.
“Xiao Nan, take Little Bei and go gather some firewood nearby.”
She didn’t want the children to have too much contact with Chongming.
Although Xi Nan was reluctant, he obediently took Xi Bei and left.
Chongming watched their retreating backs and raised an eyebrow.
“Your Zaizai are really cute.”
It was the first time anyone had ever called her cubs cute, and Xi Yao couldn’t help but glance at him.
“You don’t think they look strange?”
“Not at all.
The world is full of strange-looking beings.
If you traveled more, you’d find that they look perfectly normal.”
Undeniably, his words made Xi Yao feel a sense of relief.
“It must be hard raising cubs all by yourself, isn’t it?
Where’s your Beast Husband?”
‘The bloodline aura on these cubs feels familiar, but I can’t quite place it.’
‘I’m certain their Beast Father is no ordinary person.’
Xi Yao faltered and replied coldly, “We’re not close enough to discuss that topic.”
She struggled to lift the washed hide pad, preparing to drape it over a nearby tree branch.
Seeing this, Chongming got up, walked over, took the hide pad from her, and hung it up with ease.
She didn’t refuse, since he was willing to help.
“Why don’t you come back to my tribe with me?
In our tribe, females are never made to do manual labor.”
“No, thank you!” ‘I can support myself and my cubs.
I don’t need to rely on any Beastman.’
“Don’t be so quick to refuse.
Don’t you want to know what your cubs’ bloodline power is, Little Priest?”
Xi Yao’s heart leaped.
‘How does he know I have the Healing Technique?’
‘And what’s this about a bloodline power?’
She opened her mouth to ask, but the man before her flickered and vanished on the spot.
Xi Yao blinked, making sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her.
He had well and truly vanished.
‘That level of power is terrifying.
If we fought, I wouldn’t stand a chance.’
“Xi Yao!”
“What is it?”
She was surprised to see Dair running toward her in a panic.
“Something’s happened to Ni Duo!
She suddenly started vomiting blood this morning and fell unconscious, and even her Beast Husband is unconscious too!”