Yeah, Right, Like I'd Believe You

In Sunset Forest.

The three of them searched for edible greens.

Once Ling's carrying basket was full, Feng Rumeng took out some purple fruit juice and handed it to Ling and Hu Yun.

Ling accepted his and drank it leisurely. Hu Yun took his and looked at the juice without drinking.

Feng Rumeng took out a cup for herself too. After two sips, she looked at Hu Yun. "Don't worry, it's not poisoned."

Hu Yun hesitated for a moment, then tilted his head back and drank it.

"How is it?" Feng Rumeng asked him.

Hu Yun looked a little uncomfortable. Lowering his eyes, he said, "It's good."

The corners of Feng Rumeng's lips curved. "If you like it, I'll have Ling make you a few more cups later."

"Thank you. I'll trade you some prey for it," Hu Yun said, looking at Feng Rumeng.

He had never looked at her closely before. When she first came to the tribe, her face had been swollen and black, covered in blisters. Anyone who saw her once would never want a second look.

Now her face was still as black as a moonless night. Was it his imagination? He actually thought her features were rather delicate.

Ling watched the scene from the side, his cool purple eyes growing somewhat dim.

The beast world was dangerous, and vicious beasts ran rampant. No matter how much he inwardly opposed her having other beast husbands, he had to accept it for her safety.

"Ling, let's go back. We can catch a few more Baibai Beasts when we pass the river and make meatball soup tonight."

"All right." Ling walked over to her, pressed two gentle kisses to her lips, and scooped her up with one arm.

Feng Rumeng wrapped her arms around his sexy, long neck. "I'm not a cub. I can walk on my own."

Ling stared straight at her with his cool eyes. "I want to carry you."

Feng Rumeng looked at his perfectly handsome face and said in a low voice, "Hu Yun's still here. This isn't very appropriate."

"Just pretend I'm not here," Hu Yun said, striding ahead of them.

Ling's thin lips curved faintly. "You won't let me carry you. Don't tell me you want Hu Yun to carry you instead?"

Hu Yun nearly twisted his ankle when he heard that.

Feng Rumeng tugged Ling's ear. "What nonsense are you spouting?"

"Ow, ow, ow! But if you want to, it's not as though you can't. Looking at the whole tribe, I don't think anyone but Hu Yun is worthy of my female," Ling said deliberately, watching Hu Yun.

Hu Yun quickened his pace without answering. He wasn't ready yet. That fellow Ling was definitely doing it on purpose.

Feng Rumeng covered Ling's mouth. "Shut it."

Ling raised his handsome brows, deliberately sliding the tip of his tongue across her palm.

The tips of Feng Rumeng's ears turned red, and she pulled her hand back. That fellow Ling was getting naughtier and naughtier.

When they reached the stream, Ling and Hu Yun caught Baibai Beasts while Feng Rumeng sat comfortably on a rock nearby.

Thud. A sound came from behind her. Feng Rumeng turned and saw someone lying on the ground.

She hurried over. It was a filthy, plump female, with sweat on her forehead and no color in her lips.

"Her blood sugar is low." Feng Rumeng looked at Ling. "Put some insect honey in the juice and bring it to me."

Hu Yun looked at the unconscious female with disdain. "Even if you save her, she won't be grateful."

Saving one life was worth more than building a seven-story pagoda. Feng Rumeng looked up at the two of them. "If we don't help her, she really will die."

Ling said nothing and handed her the mixed juice.

Feng Rumeng lowered her head and called to the female twice. When she didn't respond, Feng Rumeng dabbed the juice onto her gums a little at a time.

Ling and Hu Yun exchanged a glance. Neither had ever seen this way of saving someone.

After Feng Rumeng had applied it repeatedly for several minutes, the female slowly opened her eyes. She stared at the bamboo cup in Feng Rumeng's hand.

"You're awake." Feng Rumeng helped her sit up and held the bamboo cup to her lips. "Drink."

The female glanced at her, then drank it all in a few gulps without hesitation.

Seeing that the female was awake, Ling and Hu Yun returned to the river to continue preparing the Baibai Beasts.

"Ow, ow, ow!" The female suddenly clutched her head.

Thinking she had hit her head in the fall, Feng Rumeng asked with concern, "Are you all right?"

The female rubbed her throbbing head and looked at Feng Rumeng in a daze. After studying her for quite a while, she slowly spoke. "Are you the female who just joined the tribe? I've never seen you before!"

"Something like that. I joined the tribe before the cold season," Feng Rumeng said, moving back a little.

"No wonder, then. Thank you for what you did just now. You're such a good person—no, a good female. My name is Bai Feifei. What's yours?"

"My name is Feng Rumeng." She handed her some more banana slices.

Without another word, Bai Feifei stuffed them all into her mouth.

"Don't choke." Feng Rumeng then looked at the two handsome men by the river. "Ling, Hu Yun, we'll have dinner here."

Ling nodded and continued preparing the Baibai Beasts. Hu Yun got up to gather stones and build a stove.

Feng Rumeng turned back to see Bai Feifei spring to her feet, look over her own body as though it belonged to a stranger, then dash into the river.

The spray drenched Ling from head to toe where he stood on the bank.

Ling was a clean freak. His purple eyes instantly turned sinister, their pupils narrowing to slits. "You're courting death."

Feng Rumeng ran over and patted Ling on the back. "Ling, Ling, take a deep breath."

Bai Feifei sensed Ling's killing intent in the water and swam a little farther toward the middle of the river. "Sorry, handsome, I didn't mean to."

Ling suddenly covered his nose, wrapped his snake tail around Feng Rumeng, and retreated several steps.

Feng Rumeng smelled it too. It was an indescribably pungent stench.

Hu Yun gagged as he built the stove. He glanced at Bai Feifei in the water and walked away as well.

Bai Feifei gave an awkward laugh and turned her back to them.

Feng Rumeng looked back at the river. A layer of grease floated on the surface, like gasoline mixed with water.

How long had it been since she last bathed?!

And what had just happened-why did it look so much like a certain scene?

Ling took his beast form and rolled around many times in the river upstream, only coming out when he felt clean.

Feng Rumeng looked at the soaking-wet Ling and handed him a soft linen towel to dry his hair.

On the way, Feng Rumeng learned from Hu Yun that Bai Feifei was the previous chief's daughter.

She loved eating and hated work, and she often drugged the males in the tribe. Whether they had mates or not, she had set her sights on almost every handsome one.

Later, the old chief died fighting vicious beasts, and the new chief drove Bai Feifei out of the tribe. But he didn't take things too far, letting her and her mates live at the foot of a mountain on the tribe's outskirts.

Ling's ears twitched. "The fifth-rank snake beast hiding in the woods is her mate?"

Feng Rumeng blinked in surprise. "Wait, her mate was hiding? Just watching his own female die? Wasn't he afraid of dropping in rank?"

"That female deserves it," Hu Yun said in an icy voice. "She brought it all on herself."

"Of her six fifth-rank beast husbands, she tortured four into cripples and sold one. The last one is unconscious."

"With a female master like her, who would care about dropping in rank? They'd be desperate to end the mating bond as soon as possible."

Feng Rumeng found it unbelievable. Six fifth-rank beast husbands—she had all those resources, yet she still treated them like that. What for?

Back at the cave, the three chatted for a while before starting dinner. None of them were in the mood for Baibai Beast anymore, so they ate roast meat wrapped in lettuce instead. Hu Yun enjoyed it very much.

He looked at the laughing couple with his deep blue eyes and thought that having a female might not be so bad.

After they had eaten and cleaned up, Feng Rumeng had just entered the cave when Ling scooped her up and said they were going to soak in the hot spring.

After being trapped at the hot spring for days last time, Feng Rumeng thought she wouldn't go even if she were beaten to death.

But Ling, who usually wore an expression as though everyone owed him Beast Crystals, looked at him with watery purple eyes, like a puppy drenched by the rain:

"Little Meng'er, I'll do whatever you say tonight. If you say stop, I'll stop. If you say slow down, I'll slow down."

Feng Rumeng rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right, like I'd believe you. I'm not going."

"My sweet Meng'er, seeing how well-behaved I was last night, how about giving me a reward tonight?" Ling nuzzled her waist.

"No." Feng Rumeng lay straight down on the bed, wrapped herself in a beast hide, and closed her eyes, playing dead.

Ling's lips curved wickedly. He scooped her up, beast hide and all, and headed out of the cave.

Feng Rumeng cried out, "What are you doing, Ling?"

Ling said, "Stealing a beast hide."

Feng Rumeng said, "..."

"Put me down!"

"No."

Feng Rumeng felt rather helpless. "Fine, I'll go, all right? Put me down!"

Ling's eyes gleamed with laughter. He pulled the beast hide away and carried Feng Rumeng out of the cave in long strides.