The next day, Yun Jiao was awakened by the lively sounds outside.
The little white hamster hopped out of her cave and her mouth formed an “O.”
The forest was bustling—not only were there orcs from the Mountain Tribe, but also many unfamiliar faces. Males and females gathered in small groups; the males occasionally stared at the passing females, while the females wore flower crowns on their heads, looking shy as they glanced at the males. Any female wearing a flower crown was one who would participate in today’s coming-of-age festival.
“What are you looking at?” A voice came from behind.
The white hamster turned to see Lei Xiao leaning against a tree, watching her. She didn’t know how long he had been there.
“Why are you here?”
“I’ve been waiting since before dawn. You really can sleep—it’s already afternoon.”
“…In my past life, I had to wake earlier than the chickens and sleep later than the dogs just to prepare for exams. Now that I’m here, can’t I at least sleep in?”
Lei Xiao walked up to her, lifted her onto his head: “From here, you can see farther.”
Yun Jiao was startled, clutching two strands of his hair to steady herself. She raised her eyes curiously at the unfamiliar faces: “Who are they? I’ve never seen them in the tribe before.”
Lei Xiao answered calmly: “They’re from the nearby Cat Tribe and Fox Tribe. These two tribes live close to our Mountain Tribe. Sometimes we meet them while gathering. The males and females of the three tribes sometimes take a liking to each other, and they wait for the coming-of-age festival to compete for the position of First Beast Husband.”
“Oh~” Yun Jiao recalled from the original host’s memory what that meant.
A female could have many beast husbands, but only the First Beast Husband’s position was irreplaceable. Once a female had her First Beast Husband, she could later take a second simply by sleeping with him—no need for the coming-of-age festival. Moreover, the First Beast Husband held absolute bloodline dominance over all subsequent husbands.
Even if a female’s First Beast Husband was a weak male of the Mouse Tribe, and her second husband was a fierce Tiger Tribe male, the mouse would still suppress that tiger. In other words, the First Beast Husband was the key that unlocked the female’s special ability to “form a bond simply by sleeping together. And the female’s body was the central hub of the bloodline suppression contracts among her beast husbands. Each beast husband would leave a beast mark on his mate, with the First Beast Husband’s mark being the largest.
If the First Beast Husband died, the beast mark belonging to him on the female’s body would disappear, and the Second Beast Husband would completely take over the First’s position.
Yun Jiao asked suspiciously: “Lei Xiao, what if at the coming-of-age festival a female doesn’t choose a First Beast Husband?”
“Then she’s in real trouble. Any male could mate with her, without being bound by a partnership contract. If she were kidnapped by malicious orcs, with luck, she might wait until the next coming-of-age festival. But if she fell into the hands of fallen beasts, she would only end up as a female slave.”
Lei Xiao continued: “You haven’t been to the trading fair, have you? Every year at the fair, there are many female slaves. Some are those who didn’t choose a First Beast Husband at the festival, and most are females who were violated by fallen beasts and lost the ability to form partnerships.”
Hearing this, Yun Jiao felt a chill in her heart. Her little paws clutched his hair strands tighter.
Lei Xiao raised his brows slightly: “Scared?”
“A little!” She thought grimly—*that would be a true public bus.* “Since that’s the case, why don’t those malicious males target females who are already adults but haven’t yet attended the coming-of-age festival?”
“They don’t? Every day when the tribe’s gathering teams go out, aren’t they always accompanied by hunting teams? Especially those who are adults but haven’t yet attended the festival—they’re the ones most heavily protected. Remember last time you ran into fallen beasts? I saved you. Did you forget?”
“….” Yun Jiao shivered at the thought, cold sweat breaking out beneath her fur. No wonder the original host had never gone out gathering. She had known that no male would protect a useless female like her.
But Yun Jiao herself had been running outside every few days—truly the ignorance of the fearless. Last time she encountered fallen beasts, if Lei Xiao hadn’t saved her, what would have happened? She would have been violated, lost the ability to form partnerships, and fallen into slavery.
Thinking of that terrifying outcome, Yun Jiao’s whole hamster body went numb.
Lei Xiao seemed to notice the little white hamster trembling on his head, and his tone softened: “Don’t be afraid, I’m here. If you want to go gathering in the future, just tell me in advance. I’ll join the hunting team and go with you.”
“Thank you!” Yun Jiao was deeply moved.
“It’s getting late. Are you going to watch the festival in beast form?”
“Is that not allowed?”
“Not exactly. But you’re so small—if you fall off my head, you’ll most likely be trampled to death by some orc.”
“….” She couldn’t argue with that.
For her own safety, Yun Jiao returned to the cave, changed back into human form, and put on a beast-skin skirt.
Other females’ beast-skin skirts were short—half-length at most, scandalously revealing. On top, they either wore nothing or just tied a couple of leaves for cover.
Yun Jiao didn’t want to be so exposed, so she shamelessly pestered Lei Xiao into making her two full-body dresses. She hadn’t thought much of it before, but now Yun Jiao realized—since she had crossed into this world, Lei Xiao had really helped her a lot. Without him, as a weakling, she wouldn’t even know how to survive. Unfortunately, this body was a useless female. Lei Xiao probably wouldn’t want to form a partnership with her, right?
After dressing, Yun Jiao and Lei Xiao headed together toward the altar.
The tribe was bustling along the way. Some males were even setting up stalls. They laid a few leaves on the ground, then placed the items they wanted to trade on top.
Yun Jiao glanced around. Most stalls offered various cuts of wild animal meat, bloody and nauseating to look at. A few stalls displayed different fruits, many of which Yun Jiao had never seen before. Only one or two “stalls” had salt. In this world, salt was sea salt—called “old salt.” It was simply dried directly, mixed in colors of white, yellow-brown, gray-brown, and pale red, looking quite unappetizing.
Yun Jiao knew this kind of sea salt wasn’t suitable for eating. It contained toxic substances and many impurities. But she had no other choice—she could only eat as little as possible, or not at all. She had thought about making edible sea salt, but in this era, without even cloth, she had no gauze to filter it.
Lei Xiao noticed her staring at the salt and thought she needed it: “I still have some salt. After the festival, I’ll give you some to eat.”
“No need, I still have plenty! If I run out later, I’ll trade with you again.”
“….” No need to trade—if she wanted it, she could just take it.
Lei Xiao opened his mouth to say so, but then remembered he wasn’t Yun Jiao’s partner, so he could only keep quiet.
The two of them wandered around, and when they arrived at the altar, a large crowd of orcs had already gathered.
Since Yun Jiao and Lei Xiao came late, they could only stand at the very edge.
Lei Xiao was fine—at 192 cm tall, he could see far. Yun Jiao’s height wasn’t short either, about 170 cm. But in this world where males were many and females few, and every male was towering and burly, her height was considered low. Even if she jumped up and down, she still couldn’t see the stage.