Weakness Is the Original Sin
Feng Rumeng's lips curved. "Jianyue, thank you and your first beast mate for today. Hurry back to your cave and get on with your important business."
"We can do it whenever we want. It won't hold us up," Jianyue said without the slightest reservation.
"If they dare cause trouble again, shout for me." With that, she turned to look at Batu. He understood, came over, and scooped her up in his arms before carrying her away.
The corner of Feng Rumeng's eye twitched. What had she just heard? Could she really say something like that so bluntly?
When she returned to the cave, Hu Yu had already cleaned up the filth. "Rumeng, here's today's roast meat."
"Thank you for today, Hu Yu." Feng Rumeng took the roast meat wrapped in leaves. "Starting tomorrow, you don't need to bring me meat anymore."
Hu Yu froze for a moment. "It's no trouble. The female I'm going to mate with likes roast meat too, so I can treat it as practice."
Feng Rumeng chuckled. "All right. If you're busy, you don't need to bring me any. I'm slowly learning to roast meat myself."
Hu Yu nodded and helped her bring the banana slices that hadn't been affected into the cave.
After Hu Yu left, Feng Rumeng leaned against the cave entrance, tears shimmering in her eyes. Here, "weakness was the original sin."
Feng Rumeng didn't sleep that first half of the night. She took branches out of her space and sat at the cave entrance, taking them apart and weaving them by moonlight. After two hours of work, a door finally took shape.
The next day, she slept until she woke naturally. She got up, ate, put the banana slices out to dry, and turned the adobe bricks over. By the time the others brought the prey that afternoon, she was already gathering up the banana slices.
There were four Grunting Beasts of varying sizes. She merely gave a faint smile and said nothing.
Feng Rumeng kept only one for herself and gave the other three to Hu Yu, Aima, and Yuejian respectively, thanking them for their help.
Toward evening, a few females tossed the beast hides at the cave entrance and put their hands on their hips, ready to start cursing.
Feng Rumeng narrowed her eyes and twirled her dagger. The others forcibly swallowed the words they had been about to shout and ran off so fast they were almost instantly out of sight.
After dinner, she cut the prepared beast meat into strips and marinated it. She had no salt, so she tore open a bunch of instant noodle seasoning packets. There were basins and bowls in her space, but she usually didn't dare take them out.
After washing up, she went to sleep. When the moon came out, she got back to work. The adobe bricks were dry, and she could build the wall.
Feng Rumeng had never done this kind of work before, but she understood the principles. At first she built it too thin, and it kept threatening to collapse. Later, she made it thicker, nearly two feet thick.
Tears glimmered in her eyes. So a person really could grow up overnight.
The entrance to her cave wasn't too large. By daybreak, she had finished the wall and installed the woven door.
Feng Rumeng stepped back a few paces and nodded in great satisfaction. It wasn't pretty, but at least it was much better than leaving the entrance completely open.
She washed her hands and cooked the other fish. After eating, she went to sleep.
At noon, her alarm woke her. She rinsed her mouth, brushed her teeth, and finished the fish left over from the morning. Then she shut the door and left the tribe.
After traveling through the forest for two hours, she found a natural hollow on the outskirts of the territory.
She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then laid thin branches over the opening and covered them with a layer of fallen leaves. She cut a small piece of roast meat and placed it on top.
Lying on a tree trunk not far away, she waited for her prey to take the bait. One minute, two minutes, half an hour, an hour...
Just as he was about to give up, two red-eyed rabbits appeared. They looked around for quite a while before slowly hopping over.
Feng Rumeng muttered inwardly that life in the beast world was really hard-even the rabbits were carnivores.
At long last, the rabbits approached the edge, only to suddenly turn and kick off running.
Oh no! Feng Rumeng had kept watch for hours and had finally spotted this little bit of prey. She got up and pressed the nanowire bracelet.
Whoosh! A black shadow appeared below. Its fangs pierced one rabbit's back, while a beast claw severely injured the other.
You've got to be kidding me. Feng Rumeng stared at the black panther. Brother Panther, you're so strong, and you're still competing with a little chick like me for prey!
After biting both rabbits to death, the black panther didn't eat them. It raised its head to look at Feng Rumeng on the tree trunk, mockery in its beast eyes.
Feng Rumeng swallowed. Good grief, it spotted me even there?
The black panther stared intently at Feng Rumeng.
Feng Rumeng broke out in a cold sweat as she saw the way it had locked its eyes on its prey. Was I its target? How could I have more meat than a rabbit? I'm so skinny my own ribs dig into me.
The black panther wasn't especially large, but it was still as big as an ox. And didn't panthers know how to climb trees?
At that thought, Feng Rumeng drew her dagger, shot out the nanowire, and fled without hesitation.
With two swift swishes, the black panther was already standing in front of her.
Holy crap! Feng Rumeng clenched her fist and punched at the side of the panther's head with all her strength.
The black panther tilted its head slightly, then turned and bit at her.
Feng Rumeng pulled back her arm, kicked off the tree trunk, and retracted the nanowire to flee again.
But this black panther was faster than the hyena queen. A beast claw swept past her neck, and Feng Rumeng quickly retreated two steps.
"Hey, are you a beastman? I won't fight you for the prey, but please don't hurt me."
The black panther ignored her completely and continued to pounce and bite at her. Fear rose in Feng Rumeng's heart. Why was she so unlucky every time? She had clearly resolved to go on living, yet on her first day hunting, she was forced into a life-or-death struggle.
Feng Rumeng fled through the forest like a comical monkey, rummaging through her space for something she could use.
A beast claw tore into her arm. Damn it, when a person's luck turns bad, even drinking water gets stuck between their teeth! Feng Rumeng panted, unleashing a torrent of words at the black panther...
At the critical moment between life and death, she took a long saber out of her space. Its blade was matte black, without a trace of grinding marks, and a row of blue lights ran along its spine. It was the entrance gift given to every student admitted to the Supernatural Academy.
She couldn't tell what material it was made of. She had treasured it so much that she had never been willing to unwrap it.
With a swing of her hand, she sliced off one of the black panther's ears. In pain, the black panther struck her down to the ground with a claw.
Without pausing, the black panther leaped down from the tree and charged straight at Feng Rumeng, who was doubled over in pain.
Caught off guard, she took out her crutch, gripped it tightly with both hands, and wedged it into the black panther's mouth. She bent her knee and drove it hard into its lower jaw, drawing a muffled growl from the panther.
Using the crutch for support, Feng Rumeng got out from under the black panther and stood up, then stabbed her saber straight into its skull.
The black panther roared and whipped its head violently. Feng Rumeng was flung away and crashed into a tree, blood spilling from her mouth. Her body hurt as though it had been torn apart while she was still alive.
The black panther scraped the ground twice with its claws and made two gurgling sounds. Its body trembled a few times before it collapsed to the ground and moved no more.
Feng Rumeng lay on the ground and recovered for a while before getting up and walking over to the black panther. Luckily, her blind strike had hit the mark, piercing the thinnest part of its skull.
She pulled out the long saber, and its tip brought out an orange crystal the size of a quail egg.
She took it off and wiped it against the ground. Fine threads of liquid flowed inside the crystal.
"This should be a crystal stone," Feng Rumeng murmured.
From white crystals to gold crystals, the colors corresponded to ferocious beasts from the first to the tenth rank. Orange crystals corresponded to the fourth rank.
Feng Rumeng would never have dared dream that she had actually hunted down a ferocious beast!