The group looked up—it was the witch doctor. She wasn’t alone; two males stood behind her, and Bai Wei was there too.
“You dare desecrate the Beast God’s messenger, the Fire God, and risk igniting a forest blaze!”
The Shaman glared viciously at Yun Jiao: “It’s you again, isn’t it? Did you summon the Fire God?”
Guo Guo frowned: “Shaman, it’s not Yun Jiao’s fault. I begged her to teach me. Cooked meat can—”
“Silence!” the Shaman cut her off. “I know exactly what kind of female you are. Yun Jiao has corrupted you.”
Guo Guo bristled: “What do you mean you ‘know’? You’re the tribe’s Shaman, so normally I wouldn’t say this, but you’ve gone too far. I, Zhu Guo Guo, am the daughter of Zhu Da Hai, and my mother is Lu Duo. You’re not my parent, so why do you keep acting like you have the right to control me?”
The Shaman stared at Guo Guo in shock, as if seeing her for the first time:
“You dare speak to me like this? I am the tribe’s Shaman!”
Guo Guo snapped back: “Exactly—you’re the Shaman, not my father or mother. So stop talking to me like you are!”
“You… you… you…” The Shaman trembled with rage.
Bai Wei quickly stepped forward to support her, then looked disapprovingly at Yun Jiao: “Guo Guo used to be obedient and respectful to the Shaman. Now she’s like this—did you lead her astray? I see you two together all the time.”
Yun Jiao: “…”
Some people just clash in temperament—it had nothing to do with her.
Lei Xiao couldn’t stand anyone targeting Yun Jiao and was about to step forward, but Yun Jiao stopped him. She crouched down, used a branch to stir up some dirt, and smothered the fire. Then she looked at the Shaman: “Shaman, the fire is out. Isn’t that enough?”
The Shaman froze, surprised that the fire hadn’t spread and could be extinguished with just soil.
Bai Wei noticed her softened expression and seized the moment: “So what if it’s out? Using fire is still wrong. Today we happened to see it—but what about the times we don’t?”
Even Yun Jiao was running out of patience: “Then what do you suggest?”
“Uh…” Bai Wei faltered, then quickly added: “Unless you swear to the Beast God that you will never again desecrate the Fire God.”
“Bai Wei is right!” The shaman nodded in agreement. “Yun Jiao, as long as you swear to the Beast God, we’ll let this matter go today.”
Yun Jiao: “…”
Your Beast God seems to be living inside my head. Unfortunately, I won’t agree!
“Sorry, I won’t make that oath. I will continue to use fire. If you have objections…”
“Then come to our Fox Clan tribe!” Hu Yun immediately interjected, making a promise: “Sacred Female, don’t worry. Our Fox Clan tribe won’t restrict any of your actions. Forget just making fire—you could burn down the whole forest if you wanted.”
Yun Jiao: “…That won’t be necessary.”
“No problem, no problem. Trees in the forest can grow back, but there’s only one Sacred Female. Of course, you’re more precious!”
“I think leaving here would be good anyway. Aside from the chief and Guo Guo, most of the tribe looks down on you.” Lei Xiao’s tone was calm, but his eyes stayed fixed on the witch doctor. “Shaman, what do you think?”
“You… you…” The Shaman was used to being revered by the beastmen—no one had ever dared embarrass her before.
Guo Guo grew impatient: “Shaman, are you really trying to drive her away? Forget it, I’ll go find Father.”
“Who said I want to drive her away?” the Shaman blurted out, flustered. She couldn’t stand Yun Jiao, but she had never thought of expelling her.
After all, Yun Jiao was the Scared Female. The Shaman was counting on her to attract powerful males and make the tribe more prosperous!
Unfortunately, Bai Wei was clueless. Hearing Yun Jiao might leave, she quickly said: “Go then! If you don’t, I’ll look down on you!”
The Shaman’s face darkened, and she snapped: “Silence!”
“Aunt, are you scolding me?” Bai Wei looked at her in disbelief.
“Yun Jiao is the Sacred Female. Even if you leave, she won’t. Apologize to Yun Jiao.”
“Aunt…”
“Hurry. If you don’t apologize, then don’t call me Aunt anymore!”
Bai Wei’s eyes instantly reddened, as if she had suffered some great grievance. Reluctantly, she muttered an unwilling “sorry” to Yun Jiao.
Yun Jiao didn’t accept it and couldn’t be bothered to respond: “Shaman, did you come here for something in particular?”
The Shaman cleared her throat, regaining her usual cold demeanor. Pointing to the two males behind her, she said: “These two—one is Mu Bai, the Cat Clan’s first warrior, and the other is the son of the Insect Clan’s chief. You will take them as your second and third beast-husbands.”
“…”
That commanding tone, as if it were only natural—Yun Jiao was truly speechless. Her eyes showed growing impatience: “Sorry, I have no plans to take a second beast-husband right now. If there’s nothing else, please leave.”
The Shaman frowned: “You are the Sacred Female. In the future, you will certainly have many beast-husbands. What’s wrong with adding two more? The young chief of the Insect Clan said that if you accept him as your second beast-husband and bear him cubs, their tribe will provide our Mountain Tribe with a year’s supply of salt.”
“That’s right!” Wa Li stepped forward, leering at Yun Jiao. “As long as you let me be your second beast-husband, forget just salt—I can even give you the method of making it.”
“…”
Looking at his smug expression, anyone would think they were producing refined salt!
Yun Jiao snapped: “Your so-called salt-making is nothing more than taking seawater and boiling it dry with fire. What’s so special about that?”
At her words, everyone froze. They looked at Yun Jiao, then all turned to Wa Li.
Wa Li was dumbfounded: “You… how do you know? That method was clearly invented by my father. Could it be that you and my father…”
At this point, Wa Li’s gaze grew increasingly lewd.
The Insect Clan lived in a jungle not far from the sea and often went to the shore. One day during low tide, his father—the Insect Clan’s chief—was walking along the beach when he discovered some white crystals among the sand and gravel. He tasted them—it was salt. His father was a very clever male. Looking up at the sun, he quickly understood the reason. So he brought back some seawater. Then, two years ago, when a forest fire broke out, he secretly gathered some embers. Unexpectedly, when he boiled the seawater dry, he really obtained salt. From then on, the once-weak Insect Clan mastered the so-called salt-making technique and began to rise in power.
Within a hundred miles, no matter which tribe it came from, all salt originated from the Insect Clan.
The Insect Clan, having mastered salt-making, grew very proud. They didn’t even need to go out hunting anymore—they had more than enough food. In just two short years, though still weak, their numbers had increased, and they were becoming stronger day by day. Salt-making had become their closely guarded secret, never shared with outsiders.
But Wa Li hadn’t expected that the Scared Female would know their clan’s top secret.
Lei Xiao grew furious: “Keep spouting nonsense and I’ll tear you apart.”
Wa Li jumped in fright and quickly hid behind the Shaman, craning his neck forward: “Then let her explain—how does she know our Insect Clan’s secret?”