Shall we go to the hot spring?

Back in the cave, Ling poured a bowl of cooled boiled water and held it to Feng Rumeng's lips. "Drink some water."

As Feng Rumeng drank, she remembered the manual juicer in her space. She had Ling fetch some purple fruit and squeezed two glasses of juice.

Ling instinctively recoiled from the juice, which was the same color as his beast form. But when he saw Feng Rumeng's look, as though it was sure to taste good, he downed it in one gulp.

"Can you even taste it that way?" Feng Rumeng looked at Ling.

"It's good. Sweet and sour, with more flavor than green fruit juice." Ling licked the juice from the corners of his mouth.

Feng Rumeng lifted her pretty face. "I've heard purple things are nutritious, and drinking this is good for your skin too."

Ling lowered his eyes with a smile. "Then I'll pick more tomorrow, so you can make juice whenever you like."

"Tomorrow, I want to invite Jianyue and Batu over for a meal. Let's have noodles," Feng Rumeng said, brushing Ling's hair behind his shoulder.

"Okay." Ling pressed his lips to her rosy ones. "Whatever you say. I'll do whatever you arrange, Little Meng'er."

Feng Rumeng had just finished washing up and hadn't yet entered the cave when she heard the sounds of beasts mating rising and falling all around her.

Damn spring. It wasn't even completely dark yet, was it?

Ling came over and picked her up. "Shall we go to the hot spring?"

"No. If I soak any more, I'll turn all puffy." Smiling, Feng Rumeng took out two tufts of cotton and stuffed them into her ears. "I have a secret treasure. It's sure to let me sleep soundly."

Ling smiled and closed the door. He set her on the bed and removed the cotton from her ears. "Little Meng'er, what do you think of Hu Yun?"

"Isn't he your childhood friend?" Feng Rumeng looked at Ling, whose face was inches from hers.

Ling stroked her cheek with a cherishing hand. "Little Meng'er, you can't have only two beast husbands forever. I'm about to advance, and I won't be at ease if you don't have someone reliable to look after you."

Feng Rumeng stared into his purple eyes. "So you're going to push me into someone else's arms?"

Ling pulled her tightly into his embrace and buried his face in her black hair. "No, Little Meng'er."

Feng Rumeng stroked Ling's back. "I can protect myself. When you're advancing, I can just stay in the tribe."

Ling said nothing. He simply held her without letting go.

"Aren't you afraid I'll kick you aside once I have a new mate?" Feng Rumeng complained. "Don't you like me anymore?"

"No. I like you, I like you so much I can hardly stand it. I wish I could hold you at the very tip of my heart."

Ling's voice was hoarse. "Little Meng'er, I won't force you. Hu Yun is close to breaking through to the sixth tier. I thought it would be better if he were there to protect you too."

Feng Rumeng ran her hand over his brows and eyes. "Ling, I can try seeing Hu Yun, but if we don't get along..."

Ling looked at her calmly. "Then we can visit Beast City, and Beast King City too. There are plenty of strong people there."

Feng Rumeng bit his lip. "When all's said and done, you still want to push me away."

"No, Little Meng'er. I'm suggesting you choose a mate, but I also hope you'll choose someone you like."

Feng Rumeng looked at her. "You're so virtuous. Aren't you afraid you'll fall out of favor?"

"Fall out of favor?" Ling bit her back. "I am, but my Little Meng'er wouldn't have the heart to do that."

"Hmph." Feng Rumeng turned over, pulled the beast hide over herself, and ignored him.

Ling tucked the beast hide around her, then held her as they went to sleep.

The next morning, Feng Rumeng went to Xi's cave and brought her some dried meat.

To thank her, Xi generously gave Feng Rumeng a jar of insect honey.

At noon, Feng Rumeng taught Ling to make hand-pulled noodles. She hadn't expected the dough made from grain flour to be so springy; it stretched elastically with a gentle pull.

When Hu Yun, Batu, and Jianyue arrived, the three males set to work: one made the fire, one stir-fried the food, and one pulled the noodles.

Once the water boiled, they put the noodles in the pot. After scooping them out, they topped them with sliced meat stir-fried with onions and seasoned with beast-world spices. The fragrance reached noses from far away.

The people in the tribe who were eating meat caught the scent and couldn't help swallowing their saliva.

"That ugly female isn't going to use the smell of meat to seduce Hu Yun, is she?" Hong Ying stood with her hands on her hips in front of her cave high up the mountainside, looking over in their direction.

Before Jianyue joined the tribe, Hong Ying had been its most beautiful female. She had a classic hourglass figure and proudly towering hills on her chest.

Of her six beast husbands, one was at the fifth tier and the rest were at the fourth. She had returned from taking a mate in the lion tribe less than two days ago.

She had once declared her love to Hu Yun and been rejected. Now, seeing him in front of Feng Rumeng's cave, her eyes filled with venomous resentment.

Hong Ying walked halfway down the mountain before suddenly remembering that Jianyue was there too. She stopped; the scene of Jianyue beating Lina was still vivid in her mind.

Her mate Hu Luo asked, "Why did you stop, Hong Ying?"

Hong Ying snorted. "Let's go back. I'll settle accounts with her another day."

Hu Luo looked at the group talking and laughing down the mountain ahead, lost in thought, then followed Hong Ying back to the cave.

After the meal, Jianyue said she was sleepy and returned to the cave with Batu.

Feng Rumeng sat on a stone stool, watching Hu Yun and Ling wash up together.

The corner of her mouth twitched. That guy Ling said he'd let me choose for myself, yet he was so eager to bring him over! I have to give him a proper lesson tonight.

Still, Hu Yun's beauty was on par with Ling's, and his talent was simply heaven's favor.

Though he couldn't take beast form, he was the fastest to advance in the tribe. Ling was at the third tier, while Hu Yun was already about to reach the sixth. He was a male pig's foot through and through.

Having another person in the household wouldn't be a problem, but for some reason, she always felt he wasn't right for her.

She put her hand against her waist. The fox mark seemed to have grown darker and shinier lately; there had been a time when it had faded until it was almost invisible.

Her first mate. Although she didn't know who he was, she hoped in her heart that he had been forced to leave her back then.

If he truly didn't like her, he could have come to her and dissolved their bond peacefully. That way, he wouldn't be punished, and he wouldn't take up one of her mate slots.

Ten thousand miles away, a large, bloodied hand appeared at the edge of a precipice wreathed in black Qi. Wuchen struggled to pull himself up, then lay on his back and opened his dark jade eyes.

He laughed, his body trembling as blood welled from his wounds. Eight months. He had finally climbed out of the Demon Abyss.

His long struggle at death's door hadn't been in vain. His hands clenched with a creak. "Bai Zhan, Liaoyuan, my fox brothers, how should I repay you properly?"

The blue flame mark between his brows suddenly flickered. Smiling, he sat up and swept the loose strands of hair off his forehead with one hand, tilting his head as he looked at the eighth-tier Violent Armor Beast King in the distance.

Hairless, pink, thin-skinned, fireproof, and impervious to claws. "Good stuff. It'll be just right for making a beast hide for my little female."

With that, he took beast form. Nine enormous tails spread out like a fan, a visible swirl of wind at the tip of each pale blue tail.

The Violent Armor Beast King, as large as a small mountain, turned its head and fled the moment Wuchen took beast form.

Wuchen's fox mouth stretched into a wide grin, revealing his fangs, the flesh of his nose wrinkling. "Too late, little prey."

He leaped and appeared in front of the Violent Armor Beast King, whipping all nine tails at once.

The Violent Armor Beast's head was severed by the wind in an instant and fell to the ground. Its body followed, crashing down with a thud.

Wuchen waved a beast claw, and a peach-blossom-colored Beast Crystal flew out of the Violent Armor Beast's forehead.

He glanced at it and ate it. A pale blue light flashed over his fox body, and more than half his wounds had healed.

Wuchen walked over to the Violent Armor Beast King and flicked a claw, sending a wind blade through its smooth hide. After cleaning the hide, he began to eat.