Hua Duo and Xiang Xiang were classified as useless females.
Xiang Xiang was fortunate—she had a childhood sweetheart, a male from the Monkey Tribe, who didn’t mind her inferior status and was still willing to bond with her.
Hua Duo, however, was completely ignored. Though the area was bustling with noise and excitement, around her, there was a vacuum—no male spared her a glance.
Yun Jiao wanted to go over and comfort her, but Lei Xiao saw through her thoughts: “I advise you not to go right now.”
“Hm?” Yun Jiao didn’t understand at first. “Why?”
“If you were still a useless female, she’d have a comparison, and maybe she’d feel a little better. But now that you’ve gone from useless to Sacred Female, if you go to comfort her, she might not feel grateful. She might think you’re mocking her.”
“….” That was true.
Beasts, like humans, had emotions and desires—they had human nature. And human nature couldn’t withstand certain tests. Comforting was fine, but the timing had to be right. Now was clearly not the right time.
Yun Jiao nodded: “You’re right.”
Lei Xiao smiled, his gaze soft as he looked at her.
Because he was a cold-blooded beast, he had endured the scorn of many females since childhood.
Lei Xiao understood human nature better than other males. But whenever he tried to explain these things to other beasts, they never understood his perspective. Only Yun Jiao listened, understood, and took his words seriously.
Still…
When he thought of winter, the curve of Lei Xiao’s lips slowly faded.
Although Yun Jiao had said she didn’t need it, Lei Xiao still intended to find a suitable male to be her Second Beast Husband before winter arrived. After today, the Mountain Tribe would likely become lively, and that would be the time to look carefully.
…
Before long, the thirteen pairs of newly bonded couples stood together at the center of the altar.
The shaman began her ritual dance again, chanting continuously.
Soft moonlight poured down upon the thirteen pairs.
The shaman quickly had orcs bring forward thirteen bowls of clear water, then instructed the couples: “Cut your fingers and let a drop of blood fall into the water.”
The couples obeyed.
But since females’ nails weren’t as sharp as males’, most had to bite their fingers.
Yun Jiao: “…” Biting a finger hurts—couldn’t they have prepared some sharp leaves or something?
Seeing her hesitate, Lei Xiao took her hand and gently made a barely visible cut on her pinky fingertip.
Yun Jiao gratefully smiled at him and let her blood drip into the bowl.
Once everyone had completed this step, the shaman turned toward the full moon and knelt devoutly.
The couples followed suit, kneeling after the shaman.
The moonlight scattered across the altar gradually shrank, condensing into the thirteen stone bowls, becoming thirteen fine threads of light. When the light slowly faded, the shaman instructed the females to drink half of the water first, followed by the males. The moment the males finished drinking, markings appeared on the females’ bodies—like tattoos.
These were the beast marks of the First Beast Husband.
Some of the beast marks appeared on the females’ chests, some on their backs, and some on their stomachs.
Yun Jiao’s body also manifested a giant python beast mark. The snake’s head domineeringly occupied her entire chest, its body coiling over her left shoulder and curling across her back. The beast mark looked vivid and lifelike, as if a real serpent were draped across her shoulder.
With the ceremony complete, the beasts below cheered loudly. Yet more than anything, the males fixed their gazes on Yun Jiao. Even if they couldn’t be her First Beast Husband, becoming her Second was still possible—and if not, then her Third or Fourth. After all, she was a Sacred Female.
Among those gazes, one pair of eyes shone especially bright, like stars in the sky.
“Mu Bai, didn’t you say you’d never be a female’s Second Beast Husband? Why are you staring at the Sacred Female?” a male teased, patting Mu Bai’s shoulder.
Mu Bai brushed his hand away irritably: “Don’t touch me. You’re filthy.”
“Hey! As if you’re so clean yourself.”
“….” Mu Bai lowered his head silently, looking at himself. Indeed, he wasn’t clean—his whole body looked as if he’d rolled in mud. His hair was a tangled mess, like a bird’s nest. Suddenly, a flea jumped from his head onto his shoulder.
Expressionless, Mu Bai caught the flea and crushed it. Right now, he was dirty. But since the Sacred Female liked cleanliness, he resolved to become a neat and tidy male in the future—so he could strive to be her Second Beast Husband.
…
Yun Jiao had already bonded with Lei Xiao, and naturally, Lei Xiao moved into her cave.
After the two bathed together in the river, Lei Xiao had something to take care of and needed to go out for a while.
Yun Jiao returned to the cave to start organizing Lei Xiao’s belongings.
To call them “belongings” was generous—there were only three beast-skin skirts, about three hundred catties of some unknown animal meat, and two stone bowls, one of which contained sea salt. In this world, “stone bowls” were actually the size of a human head—more like basins.
Yun Jiao struggled to move the stone bowl into a corner, covering it with a layer of beast skin to keep off the dust. She folded Lei Xiao’s three beast-skin skirts neatly and placed them in another corner. That corner was where she kept her own skirts, with a beast skin laid underneath.
In the past, with limited resources, she had tried to keep things as clean and tidy as possible using whatever tools were available. But now that Lei Xiao was here, she could ask him to make some furniture.
Just as she was thinking this, Lei Xiao returned—carrying a bundle of brightly colored, fresh flowers.
Yun Jiao blinked in surprise: “Why are you picking flowers at night?”
“We’re bonded now. Tonight we can mate. I wanted to decorate—it’s your first time.” Lei Xiao walked straight to the grass pile and carefully tucked the flowers into the gaps.
He looked calm, but if one looked closely, the tips of his ears were faintly red.
“….” Right, tonight was their wedding night. She and Lei Xiao were about to consummate their bond.
In the modern world, Yun Jiao had dated before, but only held hands and kissed—never gone further. Suddenly, she felt nervous!
Looking at Lei Xiao’s abs, Yun Jiao swallowed hard, her body heating up.
Strange—she was a face-lover, not a lustful woman. So why did she suddenly want to poke his abs?
When Lei Xiao finished decorating, the grass pile looked like a bed of colorful flowers. He turned back, sneaking a careful glance at Yun Jiao, clearly nervous: “I heard a female’s first time can be painful. But don’t worry—I’ll be gentle. If… if you’re not ready yet, we can wait a few days.”
“That’s not necessary…” Yun Jiao shuffled closer step by step, hooked her arm around his, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then immediately pulled back.
Lei Xiao’s gaze darkened. He gripped her shoulders and slowly lowered his head.
Breathing grew closer and closer, Yun Jiao’s heartbeat quickened, each thump feeling as if it might leap out of her chest.
Seeing her shy and timid expression, Lei Xiao’s gaze burned hotter, brushing a kiss against her lips. When she didn’t resist, he kissed her again. What began as cautious probing gradually lost control, tenderness laced with a hint of wildness. His kiss was hot and powerful, his arms encircling her as his hand caressed her back, sending tingling shivers through her.
Unconsciously, Yun Jiao wrapped her arms around his neck.