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Qiu Li was one of those little beastmen.

He ran over to his baba's legs with the meat patty held up and called out, "Baba, hurry and try it."

"What?" His baba, Zhou Fu, caught a rich aroma. He looked down and saw a small piece of meat patty. "Where did that come from?"

"The chief gave it to me." Qiu Li patted his baba's leg gently and urged him, "Hurry and try it."

Zhou Fu, a sub-beastman, lowered his head and took a fingernail-sized bite. The rich, savory flavor instantly filled his mouth.

He had eaten so many meat patties over the years: dry ones, painfully salty ones, hard ones... But never had he tasted one this fragrant.

The patty underneath was indeed the usual kind, but it had a perfectly seared crust and was a little juicier.

His already round eyes widened even further, and his cute, slightly chubby face filled with surprise. "It's so good! Little Qiu Li, hurry and try it!"

Qiu Li nodded vigorously, opened his mouth wide, and took a fingernail-sized bite too, savoring it. "It's so good!"

Zhou Fu smiled. "That sub-beastman made it, didn't he? He's amazing."

Qiu Li bobbed his little head and said with certainty, "We watched him make it."

Zhou Fu gently nudged his son. "Your father is chopping firewood by the big rock. Hurry and give him a taste too."

"Aw!" Qiu Li answered, then pattered outside on his short little legs.

Similar conversations took place in several homes.

At dinnertime, many people carried their bowls out to the open space and ate while chatting.

Once Jian Mo came up, everyone couldn't stop talking.

"You all said that sub-beastman's cooking was delicious. I just tried one of his meat patties, and it really was so fragrant."

"Me too. I even made a few extra meat patties on purpose, but they tasted completely different."

"Hey, how do you think he made them?"

"I don't know about that, but that sub-beastman seems to have come from a big tribe. He knows how to do all sorts of things. He's the one who cured Hong Qiu."

Jian Mo knew nothing about those conversations. After dinner, he brushed his teeth with a twig and went upstairs to sleep-Wu Jiong had insisted on taking over the remaining housework.

Jian Mo had been out for most of the day, and he was so tired that his legs were twitching a little. He fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed, with no stray thoughts on his mind.

The next day, however, when Jian Mo finished breakfast and followed Wu Jiong out to meet up with the sub-beastmen, they were much friendlier. Quite a few took the initiative to greet him.

Jian Mo didn't know why, but he didn't pass up the chance to get acquainted with everyone. He greeted them back and stood nearby chatting with them.

Though he didn't say much, he still managed to join in the conversation.

Everyone was punctual. After a short wait, the whole group had arrived, and Jian Mo and the others set off to gather.

Jian Mo noticed that the tribe actually had several hunting and gathering teams. The sub-beastmen in the team he joined were generally older, and nearly all had partners and children.

Perhaps Wu Jiong had entrusted him to them because he thought these sub-beastmen were more steady.

The first time Jian Mo had gone gathering, everything had felt new, and he had been highly motivated.

This time, it felt rather ordinary.

The repetitive scenery, similar route, and all the walking left Jian Mo feeling tired.

Their haul today was fairly ordinary too.

They had come out today to visit two major gathering spots: a fruit grove and Mushroom Slope.

Only when they reached the fruit grove did they find that the fruit was mostly unripe and tasted quite sour and astringent. It would be at least half a month before it was ready to eat.

Not many mushrooms had grown on Mushroom Slope either. Perhaps the rain late the night before last hadn't lasted long enough to soak the ground.

Gathering was always full of uncertainties. Everyone was a little disappointed, but they soon accepted it.

Because the planned gathering spots had yielded so little, they walked farther and visited more places.

By the time they stopped to rest by the river at noon, the soles of Jian Mo's feet felt hot and red and were twitching a little. He was also somewhat dizzy.

Judging by the time and their walking speed, he must have walked twenty to twenty-five kilometers that morning, including plenty of uphill and downhill stretches.

Jian Mo took out the meat patty he had made that morning and took a bite, but even with it in his mouth, he could barely swallow it.

He was too tired to eat.

He had no choice but to wrap the patty in leaves and put it back in his basket. Then he took out his wooden water tube and drank a few mouthfuls.

The other sub-beastmen didn't seem particularly tired. They talked and laughed nearby.

They could rest a little longer at noon. Jian Mo sat on a rock and leaned against a tree trunk, and in that setting, he soon fell asleep.

Even after someone gently shook him awake, he still hadn't come to his senses. He looked blankly at Qing Kuo in front of him, a bark imprint on his cheek.

Qing Kuo gestured for him to look ahead. "They said they're going to take a bath. Are you coming?"

Jian Mo said, "What?"

As he spoke, Jian Mo saw a group of sub-beastmen already undoing their animal-skin skirts and sandals and entering the river in twos and threes.

At a glance, Jian Mo saw that the sub-beastmen's bodies weren't very different from those of men on Earth. Apart from a few who had revealed beast features such as tails and claws, the rest of their bodies were basically the same.

It would have been rude to stare, so Jian Mo quickly looked away, turning his gaze to the river.

This stretch of river was broad and clear, with smooth, round pebbles all along the bottom. The water was no deeper than an average person's buttocks.

It did look like a good place to bathe.

But-

Jian Mo asked Qing Kuo, "You just wash like that?"

Qing Kuo said, "How else would we wash?"

A sub-beastman beside them named Ye Luo said, "The sun's already warmed the water, and the weather's hot too. We can wash now."

Jian Mo hadn't bathed since coming to this world. He had only wiped himself down with a wet animal skin. He looked at the river longingly. "Did you bring anything to wash your hair and body with?"

Qing Kuo was puzzled. "What would we need?"